Diagnosing & Exams

Forest City Optometry offers specific exams for patients with diabetes. These exams are designed to give the extra attention their eyes need. We use state-of-the-art technology and our extensive knowledge to monitor our patients’ eye health.

Your Optometrist will go through various tests and take a high resolution digital image of the back of your eye to monitor for diabetic changes. In some cases, they will also use an optical coherence tomography scan. This can detect possible ocular diseases early.

Diabetic Eye Disease

When damage first develops, there are often no signs to warn you of diabetic eye disease. Routine eye exams are critical in detecting diabetic eye disease to create an effective treatment plan tailored to you.

Diabetic Retinopathy

Diabetic retinopathy occurs when high blood sugar causes blood vessels to swell and leak into the retina, leading to dark spots or blurred vision. According to the Canadian Diabetes Association, diabetic retinopathy affects 23% of people with type 1 diabetes and 14% of people with type 2 diabetes.

Early detection is important because you may experience no signs or symptoms, but diabetic retinopathy can cause issues such as nearsightedness, farsightedness, and lead to blindness.

Diabetic macular edema occurs when blood vessels in the retina leak fluid and cause the macula to swell, leading to central vision loss. Vision becomes distorted, and colours become washed out.

Diabetic macular edema is often a result of untreated diabetic retinopathy.

Cataracts occur when the lens in your eye responsible for clear vision becomes cloudy. High blood sugar levels can create deposits that build up on the lens, leading to blurred vision.

It’s important for individuals with diabetes to maintain good control of their blood sugar to prevent permanent damage.

Having diabetes can double your chances of developing glaucoma. Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that damage the optic nerve, the connection from your eye to the brain. Fluid build-up puts pressure on the optic nerve, causing these nerve fibres to die.

If glaucoma is detected early, treatment is available to prevent vision loss or blindness.

Care You Can Count On

Don’t let diabetes affect your vision. Schedule an appointment and let us answer any questions you have.

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