Diabetic Eye Exams

Protecting Your Eyes When They’re Most Vulnerable

Diabetes is a chronic condition that affects how your body produces and regulates insulin, a hormone that moves sugar from your blood into your cells to be stored or used for energy. Diabetes has 2 distinct types, type 1 and type 2. With type 1 diabetes, the body does not produce insulin at all. With type 2, the body doesn’t produce insulin properly.

A good diet, exercise, insulin therapy, and other medications can help manage the symptoms of both types of diabetes. However, if diabetes is unmanaged and blood sugar levels are left unregulated, it can lead to other health problems that can affect your overall health and vision.

Diabetic Eye Exams in Spanish Fort, AL | Perspective Eye Center

Diabetic Eye Disease

Unmanaged diabetes can create various eye problems that can affect your vision and may even lead to blindness. Taking steps to control your diabetes is essential for avoiding permanent damage to your eyes and vision. Some of the best ways to preserve your vision from diabetes include:

  • Managing your blood glucose, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels

  • Quitting smoking

  • Having a dilated eye exam at least once a year

When diabetic eye disease first begins to develop, there’s often little to no symptoms. A thorough dilated eye exam helps us diagnose eye problems early to possibly prevent permanent damage or vision loss.


Diabetic Retinopathy

Diabetic retinopathy is one of the most common forms of diabetic eye disease. The conditions affect the retina, the light-sensitive layer of tissue at the back of the eye that turns light into signals that your brain decodes, helping you see.

With unmanaged diabetes, high blood sugar levels damage the eyes’ tiny blood vessels, causing them to rupture and leak into the eye. This is an early stage of diabetic retinopathy called nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy. The fluid leaked from the damaged blood vessels causes the retinal tissue to swell, resulting in blurred vision.

As diabetic retinopathy worsens, new, abnormal blood vessels can grow on the surface of the retina. This stage is called proliferative diabetic retinopathy and can lead to serious vision problems.

Diabetic Macular Edema

Diabetic macular edema is often caused as a result of untreated diabetic retinopathy. Abnormal leakage and accumulation of fluid in the eye from damaged blood vessels put stress on the macula, the middle part of the retina responsible for sharp, central vision. The buildup of fluid causes the macula to swell, distorting vision.

Diagnosing Diabetic Eye Disease

At Perspective Eye Center, your ocular health is our priority. When you visit us for a comprehensive eye exam, please let us know that you have diabetes so we can perform additional tests during your exam.

Diabetic eye exams will involve special eye drops that dilate your pupil so we can have a better view of the back of your eye. After a dilated eye exam, your eyes will be very sensitive to light, so we recommend scheduling a ride home.
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Optical Coherence Tomography

During your eye exam, we’ll also use a diagnostic test called optical coherence tomography to take images of your retina. Optical coherence tomography is a non-invasive test that uses light waves to take cross-sectional images of your retina.

The cross-section view of your retina allows us to evaluate your retina’s thickness and its distinctive layers. During the test, you’ll rest your head on a support to keep it still, and the machine will scan your eye. The scan takes around 10 minutes, and most patients report little to no associated discomfort from the test.

We’ll likely dilate your pupils before using optical coherence tomography, so your eyes will be sensitive to light for several hours following the exam.