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Eye check-up and spectacles for patients from Karwar, including Navy families

Karwar has a large Navy community around the naval base, along with fishing families, government staff and students, and many of them move between Karwar and Goa often. Vasco itself is a Navy town, with the naval air station at Dabolim. If you are planning an eye check-up or new spectacles in Goa, this page shows how to fit it into one day or into a trip you are already making. ReNew Vision Eye Hospital is in Vasco, Goa, not in Karwar: 2nd floor, Pai Hospital building, Vaddem Merces Road, Vaddem, Vasco da Gama.

For Navy families on the move

Postings change every few years, between Karwar, Goa, Mumbai, Kochi, Visakhapatnam and elsewhere, and eye records are easily lost along the way. A few habits save trouble:

• keep a copy of every spectacle and contact lens prescription, and photograph them on your phone;
• children's power can change quickly; have their eyes checked before a transfer, not in the rush after it;
• carry a spare pair of spectacles for each family member during the move;
• if someone uses eye drops for glaucoma or another condition, carry enough to last until the first visit at the new station.

If a form asks for an eye test or a colour vision test, bring it, and check with the unit or employer first if it must be signed by a particular authority.

What the check-up includes

The vision and spectacle power test, the eye pressure, an examination of the front of the eye and, often after drops that widen the pupils, the lens and the retina. Children may be given drops that relax their focusing, so that their true power is measured. More on the complete eye check-up and spectacles for children.

Fishing families and the coastal sun

Fishermen working out of Karwar's harbour spend long hours in sun, wind and salt spray, which is linked with pterygium, a fleshy growth on the white of the eye, and with earlier cataract. Wrap-around sunglasses marked UV400 and a cap help every day; power sunglasses are possible for those who wear spectacles. See power sunglasses in Goa.

How to get to Vasco from Karwar

By car, about 90 km: north on NH 66 over the Kali bridge, through Majali and the Polem border, past Canacona, over the Karmal Ghat and through Margao and Verna to the Cortalim junction, then along the Vasco road (NH 366). Allow two to two and a half hours. By train, take the Konkan Railway from Karwar to Madgaon and a bus or taxi on to Vasco. Karnataka state buses link Karwar with Margao and Panjim, and some run to Vasco. We can collect you from your home and drop you back, at zero cost to the patient; call 072489 88039. See coming from another town.

Making one trip enough

• The Eye OPD runs Monday to Saturday, 4 pm to 7 pm, Friday included; Sunday OPD is closed. Leave Karwar by about 1:30 pm.
• After dilating drops, close vision is blurred for a few hours and headlights glare: the driver home should not be the person who had drops. The drive back is long and in the dark.
• If the family is staying in Goa for a day or two, ask when the spectacles will be ready so that you can collect them before you leave.
• Bring your current spectacles, all old prescriptions and any sugar or BP reports.
• If several family members need checks, say so when you call, so the visit can be planned.

Choosing frames and lenses

The Vision Correction Centre is in the same building as the eye hospital. After the test, the Vision Correction Centre helps with frames and lenses: single vision, bifocal, progressive or office lenses, and power sunglasses. Spectacles are not sold online; choosing in person makes sure the fit and the lens centres are right. More on the Vision Correction Centre.

Questions patients ask

Can a Navy family from Karwar get spectacles made at ReNew Vision?

Yes. Anyone can have an eye check-up and spectacles made at ReNew Vision in Vaddem, Vasco. Bring old prescriptions, and plan the visit around your travel.

What are spectacles called in Kannada?

Spectacles are called kannadaka in Kannada and chashma in Hindi and Marathi. At ReNew Vision they are made after an eye test in the same building.

Can we get the eye test and spectacles in one trip from Karwar?

The test and the choice of frames happen on one visit. Ask when the spectacles will be ready; if you are staying in Goa a day or two, you can often collect them before leaving.

How long does it take from Karwar to Vasco?

About two to two and a half hours by car for roughly 90 km up NH 66. By train, Karwar to Madgaon takes about an hour to an hour and a half, then about 27 km by road to Vasco.

Is ReNew Vision in Karwar?

No. ReNew Vision Eye Hospital is only in Vaddem, Vasco da Gama, Goa, about 90 km from Karwar.

This page is general eye-health information, not personal medical advice. Your eye doctor advises you after examining your eyes.