Diabetic Retinopathy
If you are a diabetic, Type 1 or Type 2, then you need to be serious about your eyes. For early detection of diabetic retinopathy, Sunshine Coast Optometrist Darin Browne can help you!
Diabetic retinopathy is the eye disease that diabetics are prone to get, and which in some cases can send you blind almost instantly! It can be quick and very, very nasty, and the complications of the disease mainly involve spontaneous bleeding and leakages from blood vessels at the back of the eye, in front of or under the retina.
The difficulty with diabetic retinopathy is that there is generally no warning, which is nasty given that the effects on your vision can be devastating. Like most eye diseases, waiting until you see or feel something can be a fatal mistake.
Regular eye examinations are an absolute must if you suffer from diabetes, in fact you need to have an eye test every year, whether your diabetes is controlled properly or not! And if you are a diabetic, Medicare will cover a complete examination once a year for you, even if you are under 65.
How Can We Detect Diabetic Retinopathy?
Given that regular eye tests are the only way to detect diabetic retinopathy Sunshine Coast Optometrist Darin Browne recommends that ALL diabetics have a comprehensive vision test, including specific tests for diabetic retinopathy, every year at least, or more frequently if deemed necessary! All diabetics at Eye CU Optometrist have their retina imaged and kept on record.
Ask Darin About Diabetic Retinopathy
This is what Darin sees when he looks at the retina of a diabetic…
Using advanced equipment like digital retinal imagery, binocular ophthalmoscopes and wide view ophthalmoscopes, optometrists like Darin at Eye CU can, and regularly do, detect diabetic retinopathy in time for it to be successfully treated. This means that the ticking timebomb that is diabetic retinopathy can be defused in time to save your eye sight, avoiding one of the leading causes of blindness in the developed world.
An Amsler grid is also a great thing to have on your wall, so that you can check the integrity of your macula on a daily basis. In the example here, this is what you do NOT want to see! Distortions of the lines such as this would indicate fluid or blood under the retina. If you see this, get to an Optometrist or Ophthalmologist immediately, because early treatment of this condition could avoid a blinding catastrophe!
For Detecting Diabetic Retinopathy Sunshine Coast Optometrist Darin Browne Uses This…
So, if you are a diabetic, long term or recently diagnosed, Type 1 or Type 2, whoever you are and where ever you are you must undergo a comprehensive visual test by a qualified eye care professional, because your sight is too precious to be stolen by undetected diabetic retinopathy!
