Diabetic Eye Disease Specialist
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Texas Eye Doctors
Comprehensive Ophthalmology Specialists located in McKinney, TX
Though it may not seem obvious at first, diabetes can severely impact the health of your eyes. If you’re living with diabetes, routine eye care needs to be a part of your health plan. The experts at Texas Eye Doctors in McKinney, Texas, have extensive experience in working with diabetics to prevent, manage, and treat diabetic eye disease. Keep your vision intact today and schedule an appointment with Hena Khaja, MD, and her team by calling the office or requesting a consultation online.
Diabetic Eye Disease Q & A
How does diabetes affect my eyes?
Diabetes elevates your blood sugar levels, which can affect the tissues and blood vessels in your eyes.
In the short term, temporary swelling of your eye tissues can lead to blurry vision that goes away in a matter of days or weeks. But if you have long-term elevated blood sugar levels, it can damage your ocular blood vessels, causing them to swell and leak.
People with diabetes are also at a higher risk of developing glaucoma and cataracts.
What is diabetic eye disease?
There are two main types of diabetic eye disease: diabetic macular edema (DME) and diabetic retinopathy.
Diabetic macular edema (DME)
Diabetic macular edema happens when the blood vessels in your retina develop aneurysms that block the blood flow to your retina. Your blocked blood vessels eventually begin to leak, leading to an accumulation of fluid beneath your macula. The subsequent damage to your macula leads to vision loss.
Diabetic retinopathy
Diabetic retinopathy happens when new blood vessels take form in the retina to replace the blocked blood vessels. These new blood vessels tend to be weaker and frequently leak fluid. The leakage creates scar tissue that affects your vision and can ultimately lead to retinal detachment.
What are the symptoms of diabetic eye disease?
You typically don’t notice diabetic eye disease until it’s in its later stages, at which point you might experience:
- Empty areas of vision
- Dark spots in your vision
- Blurred vision
- Impaired color vision
With regular screenings at Texas Eye Doctors, you can detect signs of diabetic eye disease in its early stages and prevent it from progressing.
How is diabetic eye disease treated?
The best treatment for diabetic eye disease is prevention, which you can successfully do with regular eye exams at Texas Eye Doctors. The American Academy of Ophthalmology recommends the following exam schedule.
- Type 1 diabetes: First eye exam five years after diabetes diagnosis, then every year afterward
- Type 2 diabetes: First eye exam immediately after diabetes diagnosis, then yearly afterward
It’s vital to get an eye exam immediately after a type 2 diabetes diagnosis because diabetic eye disease can progress undetected for years. This means that you might already have eye damage by the time you discover you have diabetes.
You can stave off diabetic eye disease by managing your blood sugar. If you’re already showing signs of the disease, however, Texas Eye Doctors can treat you with an intraocular injection, which is a targeted drug therapy that delivers a concentrated dose of medication directly into your eye.
Texas Eye Doctors has highly skilled ophthalmologists who administer intraocular injections gently, safely, and effectively. The procedure typically takes less than 30 minutes and is performed in-office.
To learn more about how Texas Eye Doctors can treat your diabetic eye disease, and preserve your vision, schedule a visit today by calling the office or booking an appointment online.
