Diabetic Retinopathy Boise ID | Clear Eye Total Eye Care

VISITING an Eye Doctor for Diabetic Eye Exams in Boise

While a comprehensive eye exam is useful for anyone, if you have been diagnosed with either type 1 or type 2 diabetes, routine eye care becomes even more important. Dr. Bingham at Clear Eye Total Eye Care is experienced in these exams, and you can call (208) 629-8326 or contact us today to get ahead of your diabetic eyecare.

When you call, ask about our free, in-house vision plans to see our optometrist at a reduced cost without insurance, and also reduce the price of eye wear.

Importance of Annual Diabetic Eye Exam and Vision Care

Diabetes damages blood vessels throughout the entire body, including the eyes, and this is the leading cause of blindness among working class Americans. This makes regular optometry care essential so your optometrist can help preserve your sight. Once you are diagnosed with diabetes, you should see an eye doctor as soon as you can after your diagnosis--to establish a baseline of your eye health--and once a year thereafter.

By monitoring your eyes, it’s possible to reduce the impact of diabetic retinopathy. Diabetic retinopathy is when your eye’s blood vessels become damaged and this eventually causes the retina itself to be damaged or detached, both of which are serious conditions that directly impact your vision. Diabetic retinopathy has stages of progression that diabetics should watch for.

These include:

Initial diagnosis of retinopathy.

Depending on the severity of the diabetes, mild retinopathy can begin to occur any time, before or after a person is diagnosed with diabetes. a person may not notice vision changes yet, even if the retinopathy has begun.

Non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR).

This is when blood vessels inside your eyes begin to form aneurysms and also begin leaking blood and fluid into the retina. This is likely to cause some swelling inside the eye (called macular edema). If left unmanaged, vision loss will become permanent; meaning that vision will always be blurry, even with the proper prescription glasses.

Proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR).

This is when there is so much blood vessel damage that the eye has to grow new blood vessels to maintain sufficient oxygen supply to the retina and other eye structures. These blood vessels are fragile, though, and often leak or rupture, possibly causing dark “eye floaters” (moving dark spots) in the eye, more blurriness, and increased chance of a detached retina. Since the retina is just a thin layer of tissue, it can detach from the tissue around it. At this point, your vision could be affected in any part of your eye, even to the point of near blindness.

Just as diabetes requires continual medical care to manage or reverse symptoms, diabetes also requires continual eye care from a good eye doctor to manage a damaged or detached retina. We partner with leading retinal specialists in the area if treatments like eye injections or laser therapy for diabetic retinopathy become necessary. At Clear Eye Total Eye Care, we specialize in providing this care and are happy to develop the kind of professional relationship in eyecare that supports healthy eyes and retina.

If you live in the Treasure Valley and are looking for the best optometrist and eye care to help you with an eye exam for diabetics, Clear Eye Total Eye Care is here for you. Our helpful and supportive staff look forward to helping you preserve your eyesight.

You can schedule your eye exam online, and unlike many other optometrist’s offices, we offer same-day and walk-in eye appointments, and encourage you to call (208) 629-8326 or come visit us today. Clear Eye Total Eye Care is ready to conduct full and accurate eye exams to get and keep your eyes healthy.

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