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Parrelli Optical
369 Revolution Drive
Somerville, MA 02145

617-864-5094

Advanced Eye Care Associates
780 North Main Street
Providence, RI 02904
401-331-2020

We are here to help you with your eye care needs. We want to let you know of all the services that are available at our office. We specialize in personalized service with a focused attention to detail.

In addition to complete eye examinations, digital imaging services, visual field testing, topography, pachymetry, Laser Vision co-management and contact lens services we are pleased to provide complete medical eye services.

Just an FYI, the following eye conditions can be treated here in our office:
Eye Infections
Eye Injuries
Conjunctivitis
Pink Eye
Foreign Body Removal
Eye Allergies
Corneal Abrasions
Dry Eyes
Styes
Lid Infections

We are pleased to offer these special services in addition to our comprehensive eye care services.  We are dedicated to providing each of our patients the finest eye care available anywhere. Our primary concern is to give you the very best of care.
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    • About Dr. Sylvia

      About Dr. Scott Sylvia

      Scott Sylvia OD, MBA
      Dr. Scott Sylvia did his undergraduate training at UMASS Dartmouth and received his Bachelor of Science in 1984 and his Doctorate in Optometry in 1986 from the New England College of Optometry in Boston. In 2000, he received his MBA with a concentration in Health Care administrative management and Marketing from Bryant College.

      He worked with Charles Calenda MD in RI from 1986-1989, and 2010-2016, was a staff optometrist at Harvard Pilgrim Health Care in Rhode Island from 1989-1997. He opened his Cambridge office in Feb 1998 and joined Advanced Eyecare Associates in Providence, RI in 2016.

      Dr. Sylvia performs primary eye care services and specializes in custom contact lenses including scleral lenses and hard to fit custom soft and gas permeable lenses. He is part of the Leadership Team from Vistakon / Johnson and Johnson, and has lectured and trained his peers in specialty contact lenses. He is also part of the Clinical Faculty from the New England College of Optometry and trains interns in his offices.

      He is an affiliate doctor of the TLC Laser Eye centers and co-manages patients who undergo laser vision correction. He is a member of the American Optometric Association, the AOA Contact lens and Cornea Section, The Rhode Island Optometric Association, the Human Rights Campaign, Access Health MA, and the Greater Boston Business Council. He served as President of the Board of Directors of the Greater Boston Business Council. Currently he is the President of the Board of Directors of Access Health MA.
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    • What Makes Us Different

      What Makes Us Different?

      Thorough, Unhurried Examinations
      There are many approaches to performing eye exams. Some practices use technicians to perform tests and a quick visit with the doctor confirms the results. The Optometrists associated with Parrelli Optical® however prefer to take their time and get to know their patients and their visual needs. Our Doctors perform all the tests necessary for your eyes and then they discuss their findings with you and you decide on the course of treatment.

      We Take the Time Your Eye Deserves
      More than an eye test, your visit to one of the Independent Doctors of Optometry associated with Parrelli Optical® is a complete visual analysis and a comprehensive 15 point eye health assessment.

      Our Doctors do much more than accurately determine your prescription. They will check your eye for common diseases like glaucoma or Age Related Macular Degeneration (ARMD) and problems like cataracts and presbyopia. In addition, many general health problems can be diagnosed early by assessing changes in the retina. High blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes first become visible when carefully looking at the back of the eye.

      All testing is performed by qualified, independent Doctors of Optometry.

    • Understanding Your Prescription

      Understanding Your Prescription

      Understanding the Numbers

      Light bounces off everything we see. It then passes through an elaborate configuration of structures (parts of the eye) designed to bring that image to focus on the retina at the back of the eye.

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      The Prescription Form

      The Independent Doctors of Optometry associated with your eyecare-experts will record your vision correction on a form like this. Here’s what all those numbers mean:
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      Your Prescription
      Emmetropia (top picture): When light entering the globe passes through the various parts of the eye and comes to focus right on the retina, the patient requires no vision correction and the form will be blank.

      Hyperopia (middle picture): Usually termed “farsightedness.” Generally, this condition is noted by a lack of really clear vision at distance and near. However, the hyperopic patient, with some effort can often focus acceptably far away, in the distance. In this eyeball light focuses behind the retina. There is a lens (parts of the eye) within the eye that is used to add extra magnification for reading. Most farsighted people can use this lens to sharpen their distance vision. As this lens weakens, the doctor will prescribe magnifying lenses, written with a plus sign preceding the first number of the prescription (#1 on the form), to sharpen vision.

      Myopia (bottom picture): Commonly called “nearsightedness,” this refractive error means that the patient can see well up close, within arm’s length. But, that vision is blurred in the distance. This is usually caused by the front of the eye being too strong (refractive myopia), or the eyeball being elongated (axial myopia). Both circumstances lead to light entering the eye coming to focus in front of the retina. A minifying lens, signified by a minus sign preceding the first number on the prescription pad (#1 on the form), focuses that light onto the retina, sharpening vision.
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      Astigmatism:
      The clear window at the front of the eye is called the cornea. If it is the same curve in all directions, like a baseball, we call it spherical. If it is steep one meridian and flat in another, like a football, it is called astigmatic. Toric is Latin for “two curves.” We use a toric lens aligned with those two different meridians to sharpen vision. Astigmatism often compounds myopia or hyperopia, and in even modest amounts is designed into eyeglass lenses to sharpen vision. The amount of this correction is written in the second box of the prescription pad (#2 on the form), and its orientation is defined by the third box (#3 on the form).After being bent by the cornea light coming from objects closer than twenty feet away needs to be concentrated further in order to focus on the retina. The lens within the globe changes shape to provide this extra power. This lens is a multi layered structure very similar to an onion. Throughout life new layers are added. With time the center of the lens becomes further removed from its nutrients and it starts to harden. Ultimately, it will not flex enough to provide enough magnification for reading, and the patient will require reading glasses or multifocals. This additional power (ADD) is recorded under your near correction on the prescription pad (#5 on the form).

      Prism:
      Special light bending characteristics included for muscle imbalance. Represented by an amount and a direction entered into the final box on the prescription form (#4 on the form).

    • Contact Lenses

      Contact Lenses

      Anyone Can Wear Contact Lenses

      Any prescription can be filled with contact lenses. Whether you are near sighted, far-sighted, have astigmatism or need a bifocals you can wear contacts. Contact lenses give you sharp vision, better peripheral field of view and improved depth perception.

      There are literally an unlimited number of lens designs available today; soft and gas permeable materials, single vision and bifocal designs, spherical, aspheric and toric lenses. It takes a qualified professional to determine which lens will be best for you.

    • Anatonomy of the Eye

      We Understand Eyeballs

      The human eye is a miraculous structure, a one inch globe that focuses the entire world on tissue the size of a postage stamp. For you to see clearly, incoming light must come to a precise focus on the retina at the back of the eye. The entire structure and all its components are dedicated to that end.
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      Parts of the eye
      In this cross section of the human eyeball, we can trace the beginnings of vision. Light enters the globe through the cornea (far left). This tissue is clear and normally has no blood vessels. It receives all its nutrition from oxygen that it can derive from the environment and from the tear film that bathes it. The cornea contributes about two thirds of the focusing power of the eye. The tear film itself forms a smooth refractive surface bending light uniformly.

      Next is the anterior segment. This area is divided into the anterior chamber, the space in front of the iris and posterior chamber behind the iris. This space is filled by a liquid, called the aqueous humor. This fluid is produced in the cilliary body, a radial structure that supports the iris.

      This incoming light then encounters the iris. This reactive diaphragm varies in color from blue to green and most commonly to brown. In the center of this structure is a hole, called the pupil. The iris adjusts the pupil’s diameter in reaction to the intensity of incoming light. The brighter the light, the smaller the hole.

      Aqueous humor is constantly produced behind the iris and flows across the surface of the crystalline lens through the pupil and exits via a sieve-like structure that surrounds the base of the iris called the trabecular meshwork located in the angle between the back of the cornea and the front of the iris.

      Incoming light then encounters the crystalline lens. The lens is also clear and devoid of blood vessels. The constant flow of aqueous across its surface nourishes this tissue.
      This structure has a natural tendency to bulge, to become thicker at its center. The lens is suspended in a capsule. In a straight gaze it contributes an additional one third of the eye’s focusing power. When you are looking at a distance, it is held compactly by the surrounding ciliary process, and not allowed to enlarge. When the ciliary muscle relaxes, the lens changes shape adding more magnification for reading. This occurs naturally as your eyes converge to focus on objects closer than twenty feet away.

      Light then passes through the posterior cavity. This part is filled with the vitreous gel, a thick gelatinous substance, that does not regenerate with time. This supports the globe and holds the retina in place.

      Finally, in an eye needing no vision correction, the light comes to a sharp focus on the retina. Covering the inside of the sphere, and extending in all directions all the way forward to its attachment at the ora serrata surrounding the base of the ciliary body, the retina is a vast network of light receptors. This is where vision begins.
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      The retina uses a rich vascular network to fuel an electro-chemical reaction that turns light into sight. Light’s energy is translated into an electrical impulse by a chemical reaction that takes place at its receptors. The peripheral portion of this structure is composed of receptors known as rods. They are very sensitive to light and movement but only translate signals in black and white. The macula is a 3 to 5 mm oval, surrounding the fovea at the approximate center of the retina. This spot has the highest concentration of receptors called cones and is responsible for color perception and the sharpest vision. Retinal receptors are wired directly to the brain via nerve fibers.

      Millions of these nerve fibers gather to form the optic nerve, which exits through the only opening in the globe, and carries the electrical impulses generated by the retinal receptors to the visual cortex at the back of the brain where vision occurs.
    Not All Eye Exams Are The Same

    We are committed to helping you and your family to maintain and preserve healthy eyes. Using state-of-the-art equipment, our experienced eye doctors will perform comprehensive eye exams and evaluations that will effectively address your eye health and vision needs. We will thoroughly discuss our findings and any risk factors we have noted, and then work with you to develop a plan to optimize your vision.


    Comprehensive Eye Exams for Vision Assessment
    We recommend routine eye exams. But, most visits to the eye doctor are to adjust prescriptions for patients that are not seeing well. The process of determining your prescription is call the refraction. While the refraction is only a small part of the tests that we will perform during your eye exam, the accuracy of those results determines how happy you will be with your new correction.

    Other tests performed during your routine eye exam are:
    • Slit lamp examination of the structures in the front of the eye, including eyelids, conjunctiva, sclera, lens, iris, and cornea
    • Examination of the structures in the back of the eye, including the retina and optic nerve
    • Refraction to determine vision correction needs
    • Cataract screening
    • Glaucoma screening and internal eye pressure checks
    • Corneal and retinal evaluations
    • Visual field examination


    Medical Eye Exams
    Your eyes rarely hurt when there is something wrong. Many eye diseases can be detected through routine eye exams and treated effectively before they cause damage that cannot otherwise be repaired. In addition, a variety of whole-body diseases can be identified during an eye exam and be treated before they cause permanent damage. That is why we include eye health assessments in our routine eye exams for vision.
    If you experience sudden changes in vision or unusual visual symptoms you should call to schedule an immediate visit. If we diagnosis eye disease our relationship with world-renowned ophthalmologists ensure that our patients receive the best overall medical and visual care.


    Eye Exams for Children
    Most pediatricians are trained to monitor the development of your child’s eyes and vision. They will advise you of the need for early intervention by a pediatric ophthalmologist if it is indicated. These specialists’ can use modern techniques to accurately exam the eyes of even the youngest patients.
    Normally, your child’s first comprehensive eye examination should coincide with their ability to recognize letters. This is usually around the time your child enters the first grade. At this visit the we will evaluate your child’s eye health, the coordination of the muscles that control eye movements and measure for a prescription to convert their vision needs.

    We are also pleased to provide the following services:
    • Preoperative and postoperative LASIK consults
    • Corneal reshaping using contact lenses
    • Ocular allergy therapy
    • Dry eye therapy, including punctal plugs and tear film assessment


    HMO’s and Insurance Plans:
    We participate in and provides services for most HMO’s and Insurance plans. Vision benefits vary widely. Most health insurances offer eye exams with a small copayment. Some plans also offer direct reimbursements for your eyeglass or contact lens purchase. Other programs allow you to pick products from specific collections. More commonly, Parrelli Optical® offers a substantial savings in the form of a discount taken off the list price of eyewear for our patients who are covered by various health insurance programs.

    Specific information about your insurance plans can be found at your insurer’s website:
    Aetna BlueCross/BlueShield of MA Eyemed Harvard Pilgrim Health Plan MassHealth Medicare Neighborhood Health Plan Network Health Tufts Health Plan Tufts Medicare Preferred Unicare/GIC United Health Care

    Or you can call us for specific information about your coverage. Have your enrollment information handy and we’ll do the rest.

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    Parrelli Optical
    369 Revolution Drive
    Somerville, MA 02145
    617-864-5094

    Advanced Eye Care Associates
    780 North Main Street
    Providence, RI 02904
    401-331-2020