Diabetic Eye Care with Dr. Eklund at Wellington Eye Care
Diabetes is a group of metabolic diseases that alters the way your body handles blood sugar, also known as glucose. Glucose is necessary to the body, but too much of it in the blood can cause health issues, eye complications, and peripheral neuropathy. It is vital for those suffering from diabetes to visit an optometrist regularly. Optometry visits can identify and treat diabetic problems. Dr. Eklund is our eye doctor at Wellington Eye Care, and offers quality diabetic eye care for residents in Wellington or Fort Collins, CO.
Why Diabetic Eye Exams with an Optometrist Are Necessary
It is highly advised to schedule an eye exam as soon after a diabetic diagnosis has been made. Even if you are not experiencing any vision problems at the moment, an eye problem may be developing without you knowing it. Glaucoma, cataracts, macular degeneration, and diabetic retinopathy are a few eye diseases that are known to advance slowly, appearing as subtle symptoms at first. The earlier you have the exam done by an optometrist, the sooner treatment can start and prevent vision problems from affecting your sight.
What Includes in An Eye Exam?
A diabetic eye exam will check for all of the eye problems mentioned above. The exam will begin with a questionnaire about your health history. This information is crucial as it gives our optometrist an idea if you are at risk of common eye problems. After reviewing the information, we will test how well you can see, check your visual field, perform an external exam of the eyes, and view your internal eye structures. We will use an innovative technology called the ultra wide-field imaging to get a better view of your retina, allowing us to see if you have diabetic retinopathy. Another state-of-the-art equipment our eye doctor will use is the optical coherence tomography angiography, which is a non-invasive technique that enables us to depict vessels in the eye that are abnormal. After all the tests have been conducted, we will go over with you our findings and create a diabetic eye care plan to manage your eye problem.