Dr. Matt Carlson, OD

Dr. Matt Carlson joined Puget Sound Eye Care in 2017, the same year he completed his Doctor of Optometry at Pacific University. He grew up watching his father, Dr. Melvin Carlson, build this practice from a single exam room on N 45th Street — and he chose optometry, and specifically pediatric optometry, because he knew what that kind of consistent, attentive care could mean to a family over decades.

His clinical focus is the work parents research most carefully before choosing a doctor for their child: strabismus (misaligned eyes), amblyopia (lazy eye), and myopia control. At Puget Sound Eye Care, he runs a structured myopia control program — offering MiSight daily-disposable contact lenses, overnight Ortho-K lenses, and Stellest spectacle lenses — chosen based on each child’s axial length, refractive error, and family routine. Most children in the program are enrolled between ages 7 and 12, when myopia tends to progress fastest.

Dr. Carlson is a member of the Optometric Physicians of Washington and the American Optometric Association. He serves as an examination provider for Special Olympics Washington. His peers recognized him with the Tole Greenstein Award, given for clinical excellence in optometric education.

Outside the clinic, Matt runs, cycles, and spends time on Puget Sound — catch-and-release fishing being the closest thing to a day off he allows himself. He sees patients at both the Wallingford and Eastgate Bellevue locations.