A closer look at the new Eye-Q shop

The popular business, which specializes in helping nearsighted kids, is opening a second location.

An optimal optical shop Eye-Q is opening a new outpost in the Colonial Village Shopping Center.

BY DEBORAH SKOLNIK

“The sign is up, so things are happening,” said Stacy Zlatin, chief operating officer of Eye-Q Optometrist, several days ago. Things are happening indeed: The popular shop, a fixture in the Golden Horseshoe for decades, is expanding to a second store, this one on Weaver Street in the Colonial Village Shopping Center. “We do not have an official move-in date yet, but we hope it will happen in a couple of weeks,” Zlatin added.

An expansion, not a relocation

Eye-Q has been part of the Golden Horseshoe for over 20 years; smart phones hadn’t even been invented, and Ariana Grande wasn’t grande yet. “We really just outgrew the space,” Zlatin explained. This doesn’t mean they’re leaving that location, however: It will be transformed into Eye-Q Kids. “That’s where we are going to be doing our myopia management and pediatric eye exams. We will be seeing some adults, but primarily it’s going to be pediatric office,” Zlatin said. The new shop at Colonial Village will be devoted to family eye care. “

Expect great things at the new place. “That space is going to offer more doctor hours so we can see more patients,” Zlatin shared. It will also serve as a curated optical boutique. “It’s super-exciting—we’ve gotten a few new collections. While we carry a collection of frames that include the typical ones, we add in collections that you can’t find anywhere else, ones that if you’re walking down the street and someone sees your glasses, they’ll think that they’ve never seen any like them before. The frames are very exclusive,” Zlatin said.

Sights set on expansion Avi and Stacy Zlatin look forward to opening Eye-Q’s new shop.

Offering crucial help to kids

There’s a reason why Eye-Q’s pediatric business is thriving: Avi Zlatin, Stacy’s husband, is one of the few optometrists in New York State with a fellowship in myopia control and advanced orthokeratology, the latter of which can tremendously help children’s vision. Also called ortho-k, it involves the use of specially designed, oxygen-permeable molds crafted using thousands of data points. When applied to the eye, the molds temporarily reshape the cornea in order to help the wearer see better.

The special molds, Zlatin explains, are only used at night. “Patients put them in right at bedtime. They apply it almost like a contact lens to the eye and then they go to sleep. They don't feel it—it doesn't hurt. And when you wake up and you open up your eyes, you actually see clearly, and continue to see clearly for most of the day without the molds, eyeglasses, or contact lenses,” he says. Moreover, to take measurements for the molds, Zlatin uses a method that does not involve touching children’s eyes.

Ortho-k is FDA-approved for all ages, and kids as young as five years old can use them. It’s doubly beneficial for young children, since it not only can help them see better, but also slow the progression their nearsightness. “Myopia is a very bad problem we're having right now,” Zlatin noted.

While the children are happy to be able to see without glasses, it’s satisfying for Zlatin as well. “It's such a nice feeling when you take a child who comes in and their myopia has been progressing, and their eyeglasses have been getting stronger and stronger, and their vision without glasses is something like twenty/four hundred, and then within a couple hours of my procedure in the office, they can see fifty percent better. Sometimes when they come back for their first follow-up a couple of weeks later, they're close to twenty-twenty almost all day long without glasses on,” he said. “Even if you have a high prescription, you can see clearly without glasses or contact lenses in your eyes—you can even go swimming.”

Myopia: more dangerous than you think

Slowing the progression of myopia is, in fact, an important health matter, Zlatin said. Nearsightedness is about more than needing to squint at the TV. It actually changes an eye’s shape, making it longer and possibly leading to disease. “You can have glaucoma and retinal holes and tears,” he said of high-level myopia.

People are developing myopia more frequently in modern times, Zlatin noted. Constant use of screens plays into the problem, along with less time spent outside. The reasons why getting outdoors is so important are still being investigated, but it may have to do with greater use of peripheral vision in such settings, the quality of the light, or the body manufacturing more vitamin D from sun exposure.

Another frightening problem that severe myopia can cause, Zlatin said, is macular degeneration—not the kind most people think of, but another type, which has no cure. “There's no treatment, there are no injections, there's nothing you can do to recover from it,” Zlatin warns. “It steals your vision and that's the end game. You just go blind.” Ortho-k can help head off such calamities. Properly treated children “have less risks for developing pathology to the eye,” Zlatin said.

For him, it’s a bonda fide mission to protect young eyes from the damage myopia can cause. “I've been at the forefront of fighting it for over two decades. I’m passionate about it, and so we do a lot of pediatrics, and that's what sets us apart. We have patients who drive here from different states and all over New York for it. Scarsdale people are lucky—we’re in their backyard. We have two big populations of these customers.” Of course, he adds, Eye-Q emphasizes customer service, another reason the store has gained its large following.

A sight to behold. Eye-Q offers both traditional frames plus the latest fashion-forward options.

Adults also benefit

Grownups can use ortho-k as well, although myopia progresses more slowly in adults and Dr. Zlatin knows of no studies that prove the treatment can head off this progression after childhood. Many people just enjoy being able to see better, while others have had LASIK surgery but then regressed, and do not want more surgery.

Then there is another segment of adult clients. “They just come in and their kids do it, and they’re like, ‘I want to do this too,’” Zlatin says. “When they see [how well it works] with their children, they get excited.” And when those children grow up, Zlatin sees their children as well.

New location, new services

The new store will be where most adult orth-k services will be offered, along with stunning eyeglass frames. In addition, Stacy Zlatin said, the shop will feature a dry-eye spa. (If you suffer from dry eyes, as so many do, this very news may bring some all-too-infrequent tears to them.) “We have one room that is going to be designated as our dry-eye spot. Patients lie down there—the room is similar to a spa room—and we use IPL laser to open the glands in the eyes so that fluids will flow, Zlatin says. “We’re making the investment in it. We feel very strongly since we have so many patients who suffer, and we want to help.”

But that’s not all the treatment does. “There are beneficial side effects, Avi Zlatin shared. The lasers make your skin tighter, reduce wrinkles, and help get rid of spots in the eye area. “It really helps cosmetically,” he said. And the treatment is fast, taking just a few minutes per session.

All in the family

Eye-Q is very much a family business. “Avi and I have been doing this together for thirty years,” Stacy said. In fact, she added, her husband’s father and grandfather were in the field as well.

Scarsdalians may not realize this, but Eye-Q has a third office, located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It’s staffed by optometrist Zach Slatin, Stacy and Avi’s son, who was a Scarsdale High School graduate. “He’s working his way towards getting fellowship-certified also in myopia control,” Avi Zlatin said. Zach will soon begin working several days in both Scarsdale offices. So expect to see more of him—and, if you are an Eye-Q customer, expect to see him clearly.