Maintain Healthy Vision with Diabetes
Diabetes, regardless of which type, impacts your overall health, including your vision. While you may be familiar with how diabetes affects your health, you might not know how diabetes can impact your vision.
Diabetes increases your risk of developing several vision complications, including blindness. We recommend that those with diabetes have a comprehensive eye exam at least once a year. OHIP will cover an annual eye exam for people who are actively managing their diabetes through specific medications. Please bring a printed copy of your diabetes medication prescription to your appointment so we can verify your eligibility.
By keeping a close eye on your ocular health, your optometrist can help you maintain your vision and keep your eyes healthy, preventing vision complications. Book your eye exam today, and let us help preserve your sight for the future.
Request AppointmentOur Technology for Diabetic Eye Exams
Regular eye exams are essential for people living with diabetes. Diabetes can cause vision-threatening conditions such as diabetic retinopathy and diabetic macular edema.
At Dr. Black Optometrist, we understand how crucial it is to protect your sight. That’s why we use diagnostic technology such as retinal imaging and the Zeiss Humphrey Visual Field Analyzer to monitor your eyes for any impacts of diabetes.
Our software seamlessly integrates testing results from our diagnostic technology, showcasing our commitment to monitoring your eye health to detect changes proactively.
What Is Diabetes?
Diabetes is a disease that impacts the body’s ability to produce insulin. Without the proper level of insulin, your body cannot regulate its blood sugar levels, leading to highs and lows outside of a healthy range.
Over time, elevated blood sugar levels can lead to various health issues, including eye diseases. Because diabetes can impact your blood vessels, your optometrist may notice signs during your eye exam of diabetes or diabetic eye disease before you’ve been diagnosed.
How Does Diabetes Impact Your Vision?
Diabetes can lead to significant impacts on your vision, including blindness. Most diabetic eye diseases don’t have noticeable symptoms during the early stages. Regular eye exams help to catch signs of diabetic eye disease before irreversible damage to your vision occurs.
Symptoms of diabetic eye diseases include:
- Blurry vision
- Black spots or holes in vision
- Flashes of light
- Floaters in vision
- Loss of vision
Diabetic retinopathy is a condition caused by sustained high blood sugar, causing the blood vessels to swell and leading to blurred vision. As diabetic retinopathy progresses, these swollen blood vessels can break and leak into the retina, causing vision loss.
Monitoring your eye health, especially the blood vessels in your retina, is crucial in managing the visual impacts of diabetes.
Diabetic macular edema occurs when the macula—the part of the eye responsible for clear, sharp central vision—swells. Damage to the macula caused by diabetes can impact your ability to read, write, drive, and even recognize faces. Untreated, diabetic macular edema can lead to blindness.
Book Your Diabetic Eye Exam Today
If you have diabetes, regular eye exams can help protect your sight. Your optometrist will closely examine your retina for any signs of diabetic eye disease and monitor your eyes’ health. This regular screening can help to prevent serious effects such as partial vision loss or blindness from untreated diabetic eye disease.
Book your eye exam today to protect your vision for the future.
Request AppointmentOur Vision Services
In-House Lab: Your New
Glasses Made Fast Right Here
Get your new glasses fast with our swift turnaround on most single vision prescriptions and a wide range of in-stock lens options. If you’re replacing your lenses, but keeping your current frames, we won’t need to send your glasses away. You can continue wearing your glasses until the lenses are ready.
In-House Lab: Your New
Glasses Made Fast Right Here
Get your new glasses fast with our swift turnaround on most single vision prescriptions and a wide range of in-stock lens options. If you’re replacing your lenses, but keeping your current frames, we won’t need to send your glasses away. You can continue wearing your glasses until the lenses are ready.
Visit Our Oshawa Eye Clinics
Simcoe Office
Vision Care Centre
We have convenient free parking just behind our building.
- 136 Simcoe St N
- Oshawa, ON L1G 4S7
Hours of Operation
*Saturdays once a month
Glazier Office
Medical Centre
Find us in the Glazier Medical Centre. Our Glazier eye clinic is accessible, with convenient ramp access and powered doors.
- 11 Gibb St.
- Oshawa, ON L1H 2J9
Hours of Operation
*Saturdays once a month
