August 31, 2020

Diabetes is a chronic condition that can harm your eyes. The disease can damage the small blood vessels in a patient’s retina. It’s a vital part of your eyes made of a thin layer of tissue found at the back of your eyeball. Your retina lets you perceive light, color, and sharp details. The complication that affects a patient’s eyes with diabetes refers to diabetic retinopathy.

How Does Retina Imaging Help

The early stages of retinopathy lack symptoms and don’t result in vision changes. Many patients are unaware of the problem until it has gone bad. Your eye doctor can detect eye health issues early on if you get regular eye checkups. This is crucial since only a thorough eye exam can catch the problem and keep the condition from progressing.

Retina imaging has been developed continuously for the past century. The techniques have been a mainstay for clinical care and management of retinal and systemic diseases. Retina imaging involves taking digital pictures of the back wall of your eye. It exposes the retina, optic disk, and blood vessels. Retinal imaging lets doctors obtain a much broader view of a patient’s retina. It cannot replace an entire comprehensive eye exam. However, it provides an additional layer of precision to it, allowing eye doctors to identify specific diseases and examine your eyes’ health.

What to Expect in a Retina Imaging Exam

Imaging tests are essential for doctors to see and determine any signs of eye disorders. Here’s what you can expect if you are getting a diabetic exam with retina imaging.

• It starts with your eye doctor using individual drops on your eyes to dilate the pupils. Once enlarged, your eyes will be ready for the examination.
• You have to sit straight in front of the camera, then place your chin and forehead on support. This is to keep your head steady while facing the camera.
• With your eyes wide open, you will stare straight ahead at an object, all while a laser scans your eyes to capture perfect images of your retina.
• The retina imaging will be complete within just five minutes.
• Your eye doctor will upload the pictures to a computer to look for blood vessel abnormalities, retinal detachment, optic nerve irregularities, bleeding, swelling, or fatty deposits in the retina, and scar tissues.

In most cases, your eye doctor may also test your vision and look for signs of other eye problems, such as glaucoma and cataracts.

Diabetic retinopathy is progressive, and early detection and treatment are critical to prevent total loss of vision. According to the American Diabetes Association, anyone aged 10 and above suffering from type 1 diabetes shall take his or her initial comprehensive eye exam within five years of diagnosis. For those with type 2 diabetes, getting your first eye exam on the same day of being diagnosed is highly recommended.

Schedule your eye exam today at Modern iCare Optometry in Palm Desert, California. Call us now at (760) 674-7272 to make an appointment.