Diabetic Eye Care

Eye care is vital for overall health and wellness when you have diabetes. Hetal Vaishnav, MD, Gary Ganiban, MD, and their colleagues at Atlantic Retina Consultants offer comprehensive diabetic eye care at offices in Melbourne, Merritt Island, Palm Bay, Titusville, and Rockledge, Florida. The team provides the screening, preventive care, and treatment needed to maintain healthy vision. Don’t let diabetes affect your eyesight. Call Atlantic Retina Consultants or book an appointment online today.

How does diabetes affect eye health?

Diabetes is a chronic disease in which excess glucose (sugar) builds up in the blood. This excess glucose places excessive pressure on all aspects of the circulatory system, including the tiny blood vessels that supply the eyes.

If you have diabetes, you have an increased risk of:

• Blurry vision
• Cataracts
• Glaucoma
• Diabetic retinopathy

Without treatment, diabetic eye problems can cause permanent vision loss. You need to follow your primary care doctor’s recommendations to manage diabetes and lower your blood sugar. See the Atlantic Retina Consultants team regularly. This will help prevent eye problems and reduce their effect on your eye health and vision.

What is diabetic retinopathy?

Diabetic retinopathy develops when the blood vessels in your retina (the collection of cells on the back of your eye that gather light and convert it into images) are damaged. The damage will cause you to experience poor vision and, eventually, sight loss.

There are several stages of diabetic retinopathy. As the condition gets worse, the blood vessels in the back of your eye swell, distort, and eventually become blocked.

Your body responds by forming new blood vessels. These intrude into other areas of your eye and can cause retinal detachment and permanent vision loss.

What diabetic eye care do I need?

The most crucial action people with diabetes can take to care for their eyes is to schedule routine eye exams with a specialist experienced in diabetic eye care. At Atlantic Retina Consultants, patients can access optometrists with the training and experience to conduct thorough diabetic eye exams.

A dilated retinal exam is an excellent method for examining the back portion of your eye to search for blood vessel abnormalities. State-of-the-art imaging allows your provider to gather information about this area of your eye without dilation.

A diabetic eye exam includes many of the same elements as a routine eye exam but with an additional focus on the challenges diabetes presents. Your specialist personalizes the process to meet your unique eye health needs. They can also advise you on how often to have routine eye exams.

Call Atlantic Retina Consultants or schedule a consultation online today to learn more about diabetic eye care and arrange a screening.