Home › From other towns › Panjim: eye check-up and spectacles

Eye check-up and spectacles for patients from Panjim: screens, sea glare and contact lenses

Panjim's office workers, Goa University students on the Taleigao plateau, evening walkers on the Miramar and Dona Paula sea front, and older people who need a new reading power all have their own reasons for an eye check-up. This page covers what matters for each of them when coming to ReNew Vision. The hospital is in Vasco, not Panjim: 2nd floor, Pai Hospital building, Vaddem Merces Road, Vaddem, Vasco da Gama, on the far side of the Zuari (not the Merces near Old Goa).

Getting there from Panjim

• By KTC shuttle: point-to-point buses leave the Panjim KTC bus stand for Vasco through the day. From the Vasco bus stand, an auto-rickshaw covers the last kilometre or so to Vaddem.
• By car: NH 66 past Bambolim, over the new Zuari bridge to Cortalim, then the Vasco road (NH 366) through Zuarinagar and Chicalim: about 27 km, roughly 35 to 50 minutes.
• Home pickup: we can collect you from your home and drop you back, at zero cost to the patient. Ask when you call 072489 88039, and see coming from another town.

Long days at a screen in Panjim or Porvorim

Government and private offices in Panjim and Porvorim mean long hours at a computer. Eyes that burn, water or feel tired by 5 pm, blurred vision when you look up, and headaches are typical of screen strain. Sometimes the cause is a small uncorrected power or a reading power that is due after 40; sometimes it is dry eye, because we blink less while concentrating. Simple habits help:

• every 20 minutes, look at something far away for 20 seconds;
• keep the screen a little below eye level and an arm's length away;
• keep the air-conditioning vent from blowing into your face.

An eye test tells you whether you need spectacles for the screen. Office (computer) lenses, set for the desk distance, suit many people over 40. For what blue-cut lenses can and cannot do, read are blue light glasses worth it?

Students: power changes and contact lenses

Short sight often keeps changing through the late teens and early twenties, so a student's spectacles may need updating sooner than a parent's. If you would like contact lenses for college or sport, the eye hospital checks that your eyes are healthy for them, fits trial lenses and teaches you to handle them. Never sleep in lenses unless the eye doctor allows it, and keep them away from tap water. See contact lenses.

Miramar, Dona Paula and the sea glare

Sunlight reflected off the Mandovi and the sea adds to the ultraviolet (UV) reaching your eyes. Years of it are linked with pterygium, a fleshy growth on the white of the eye, and with cataract. Sunglasses marked UV400 block it; the darkness of the lens is no guide. If you wear spectacles, power sunglasses let you see clearly on the sea front. Do not swim in the sea with contact lenses in. More in power sunglasses in Goa.

What happens on the day

1. Your history, then the vision and spectacle power test, one eye at a time.
2. The eye pressure measurement, and an examination of the front of the eye.
3. Often, drops to widen the pupils, and an examination of the retina once they work.
4. The eye doctor explains the findings; if you need spectacles, you take the prescription to the Vision Correction Centre in the same building to choose frames and lenses.

More on the complete eye check-up.

Practical points for Panjim patients

• The Eye OPD runs Monday to Saturday, 4 pm to 7 pm, Friday included; Sunday OPD is closed.
• Drops take time to work, so aim to arrive soon after 4 pm.
• After drops, do not drive back over the bridge; close vision and night glare are affected for a few hours.
• Bring your current spectacles, contact lenses with their case, and any old prescriptions.
• For a red, painful eye in a contact lens wearer, do not wait: emergency eye care is available 24 hours on 072489 88039.

Questions patients ask

Is there a KTC bus from Panjim to Vasco?

Yes. KTC point-to-point shuttles run between the Panjim KTC bus stand and Vasco through the day. An auto-rickshaw from the Vasco bus stand takes you to Vaddem.

Do I need special glasses for computer work?

Not always. An eye test shows whether you have a small power, need a reading power after 40, or have dry eye. Office lenses set for the screen distance suit many people over 40.

Can I get contact lenses fitted if I come from Panjim?

Yes. ReNew Vision fits contact lenses, teaches safe handling and supplies the lenses. Bring your spectacles and any old contact lens details.

Can I drive back to Panjim after the eye check-up?

Not if dilating drops were used. They blur close vision and make headlights glare for a few hours. Take the shuttle, come with a driver, or ask for the home pickup and drop.

Where exactly is ReNew Vision?

On the 2nd floor of the Pai Hospital building, Vaddem Merces Road, Vaddem, Vasco da Gama. It is not in Merces near Panjim, and it has no clinic in Panjim.

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