All eyes on: Luke Deutschmann

by | Mar 16, 2023 | Local Business, March 2023 KZN | 0 comments

Words: Carla Louise Gailey & Luke Deutschmann
Photographer Credit: Jared Naidu | @j.capturez
“On a normal day, it would go something like this: ‘Hi, I’m Luke-I will be your Optometrist for today’”, teases Luke Deutschmann, Optometrist and founder of THE LOOK RSA.
Growing up, Luke never envisioned himself becoming “The Glasses Dealer”. Like most young boys, he saw himself becoming a professional sportsman. He did, however, realize early on in his life that he loved to make people’s lives better, and hoped that interacting with him-would enhance their life. “So, I became a professional in helping people”, he explains. “This need to enhance people’s life from every interaction controls much of what I do at a practice level, where I try to provide the best optometry experience possible. This leads to more chair time and more time spent with patients which may mean less profit, but it does lead to a much more satisfactory outcome inpatient care and job satisfaction”, he further explains.

Luke explains that the burning desire for people to benefit from their interaction with himis where THE LOOK RSA was formed. It allowed people to ask and engage in a line of questioning that they wouldn’t otherwise have done. THE LOOK RSA is there to ultimately create an experience for your loyal customer or event attendee that is unique, exciting and educational. It allows information to be shared with no strings attached and no forced sale, just wholesome interaction.

So, under the words of a friend who once said to him: “Don’t be scared to stand out. ”Luke started attending functions and events in suits, dapper wear and eyewear. This first led to being called the “udokotela wamehlo” at one of the events he attended. “I didn’t appreciate the eyes on me”, he says. “Until one day at an ‘Asvnte and friends’ event, a gentleman came up to me and asked me if I was Luke the “eye guy”. This led to a five to seven-minute conversation that ended up in the saving of the sight of his child. This made it all worth it”, he proudly states. While attending another event, Luke had the opportunity to meet Minnie Ntuli which quickly led to a weekly slot on her evening show with East Coast Radio, which opened the opportunity for some invaluable conversations about children’s eyesight and what parents should be on the lookout for. “It was amazing to see the impact created by having a conversation between two people on air. It is still one of my fondest moments so far”, he recalls.

For a more clinical approach and consultation, you can find Luke at his store – Execuspecs situated in La Lucia Mall. “To my knowledge, I am currently the only optometrist making one-of-a-kind customized lenses with prescription in them”, he explains. This was born out of Luke’s passion to do something exceptional. “The process from start to finish excites me. The point is not to create something cosplay-like but truly a one-of-a-kind piece of jewellery for the eyes”, he says excitedly.

The want and need to help everyone walking through his doors led to the up-skilling of his ability to assist dry eye patients. “The funniest part about most dry eye patients is that they complain about a watery eye, ironic right? With most dry eye patients, just a little TLC gets them back up and running, however, for others we do some in-house treatments to assist them. Dry eye is a chronic eye that burns, is light sensitive, hates wind, hates air conditioned environments, feels like something is poking it, has pressure under the eyelids, is red and that has people asking if you have been crying. Unfortunately, we aren’t able to help every person but the sooner we address the issue,the better”, Luke explains.

Luke's Insight into Eye Health

To ability to see could be the most unappreciated and undervalued thing that the human body can do. Just ask the 50-year-old trying to read the menu at their favourite restaurant, the elderly lady using the magnifier to try and read a letter from her grandchild, or you could watch the YouTube videos of babies and young children who see their family members for the first time after getting glasses. It is at this point you start to realise that without vision life just isn’t that fun.

The most common question that we as optometrists get is, “How often should I get my eyes tested?” If you have never had your eyes tested, have it done-no matter how good you feel your vision is. Hidden ocular diseases once discovered, can save vision or maybe even save a life. Just because this is how you see the world, doesn’t necessarily mean that is what it looks like (or how you should see it). After that initial test, testing once every 18 months or so is suggested if you are in need of any assistance. However, if you’re suffering from a systemic disease such as Diabetes you could be asked to come in every 3 months. Common systemic diseases such as high blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes are all in the top 10 leading causes of preventable blindness. It is important to make sure you’re going to an optometrist that is testing your eyes and not just prescribing your glasses.

For those of you that are developing short arm syndrome as you stretch that Eskom bill further away from you to see the fine print, don’t fear, you are just at that point in your life where you’re going to need something trendy on your face to keep you young at heart. Presbyopia, (the need for reading glasses), is bound to come for all of us and that is why reading glasses are readily available everywhere. It does progressively get worse, but it does stop and if you hate glasses there are contact lenses and some surgeries that can help too.

Flipping the age scale on its head to the younger generation, make sure you are paying attention to the red eye reflex in all the photos you are taking of your cute newly born or tiny tot. If there is a difference between the eyes this could indicate an issue and spotting this early could save their life or maybe save their vision and allow them to become the pilot of the aeroplane you are emulating with that spoonful of veggies.

Amblyopia is a disease also known as a lazy eye. There is nothing physically wrong with the eye, but it can’t see due to the ocular-to-brain development taking place incorrectly. This is fixable before the age of 7, but not after, as the synapses have started to lock in. If you notice the child is moving closer and closer to the TV or holding the page extremely close to their face, there is a strong chance they are short-sighted and only making it worse by having this working distance. Studies show that spending at least two hours a day outside doing distance tasks such as sports can reduce the final prescription needed by the patient. Most optometrists are now doing children’s vision free of charge as part of their community responsibility-so there is no excuse to avoid testing your child as soon as possible.

Living in Durban and loving the lifestyle that this beautiful weather city creates, I cannot emphasize the need for sunglasses for anything done outdoors no matter how cloudy or sunny it is, UV radiation is one most agreed upon links to the horrible Macular Degeneration that had the grandmother using the magnifying glass in an attempt to read the beautiful letter from her grandchild. There is UV prevention, so visit your nearest optometrist for the solution. In conclusion, don’t undervalue your eyesight because preventing vision loss is the only cure for it.

Get Connected

For any enquiries, shoot them a mail at: and give THE LOOK RSA a follow on Instagram @the.look.rsa and to book an appointment with Luke at Execuspecs in La Lucia Mall–give him call on 031 572 4925.

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