Don’t Forget to Make Annual Eye Exams Part of Your Diabetic Care Plan

When diabetic blood sugar levels remain high over an extended period, damage to the blood vessels and nerves of the eyes can occur. The best way to prevent serious and permanent damage is to schedule adiabetic eye exam in Corinth MS at least once a year.

Visual Risks Associated with Diabetes

The retina in each eye is at the greatest risk of sustaining long-term damage due to diabetes. Your retina sits at the back of the eye and is responsible for transforming incoming light into electrical signals and sending those signals to the brain.

The macula is part of the retina, which is the part of the eye that allows you to see fine details. Each macula receives support from blood vessels located in and near the retina. When the blood vessels sustain damage, you start developing the symptoms of diabetic retinopathy. Swelling, bleeding, or leaking of the blood vessels causes vision changes, including blindness.

People with diabetes are also at a much higher risk of developing glaucoma, a condition that damages the optic nerves of the eyes.

What to Expect at Your Diabetic Eye Exam

The diabetic eye exam includes several tests to determine your level of visual clarity and whether you have diabetic damage. These include:

• Dilation: Your optometrist places drops in your eyes that widen your pupils. The specialty eye drops make it possible for your eye doctor to see the back of your eye to look for swelling, leaking of fluids, cataracts, nerve damage, and other symptoms that require prompt attention.
• Retinal imaging: This device allows our eye doctors to notice subtle changes to your eye health that otherwise would have gone undetected.
• Tonometry: The tonometry test measures pressure in your eyes. Excessive pressure in the eyes is a leading sign of glaucoma.
• Visual acuity testing: This test involves your eye doctor placing a chart with letters at varying sizes and boldness levels several feet away from you to determine the lowest line you can read.

Each of these tests lets our optometry team know whether diabetes has caused any visual changes for you or is likely to in the future. Please schedule yourdiabetic eye exam in Corinth MS today to stay ahead of these very real threats to your vision.