The number of patients being diagnosed with diabetes is escalating worldwide every day. Consequently, diabetic patients are at a risk of suffering from diabetes associated eye problems, which has a potential of making the patients to lose their eye sight. The most common eyes disease associated with diabetes is Retinopathy, which has been identified as the major cause of blindness among patients with diabetes. However, this eventuality can be reversed if diabetic patients undergo regular eye exams, whether or not they experience any noticeable eye problems.

Most diabetic patients argue that their vision is excellent and that their eyes do not bother them. Such patients may not see the significance of having regular eye exams, but what they do not realize is that they are at a higher risk of developing devastating eye problems. Some eye problems might not cause any discomfort in the early stages, but might lead to loss of vision or total blindness if not diagnosed early. Therefore, it is important for diabetic patients to have regular eye exams because it is the only way to identify eye problems in their earliest stages, when they can be treated easily.

Importantly, it is recommended, that diabetic patients should have annual eye exams, so that any identified eye problem can be addressed in a timely manner. In fact, with diabetic patients, the high glucose levels make the blood vessels in the eye, swell and weaken, and when the blood vessels weaken so does the vision. However, the process is very slow and a patient may not notice any changes, therefore the only true way of determining whether they have any eye problem is having their eyes checked by an optometrist.

Having routine eye exams is important for every person who values their vision, but it is mandatory for diabetic patients who are at a risk of developing devastating eye complication associated with their condition. In fact, eye exams only take some few minutes out of the patients’ schedule, but it is a procedure that could save diabetic patients from many of eye related complications . A routine eye exam involves a series of painless eye tests, whereby the optometrist, besides testing how well a patient can see, also screens the eye for any signs of diseases and evaluates the general eye health.

During the clinic visit for an eye exam, the optometrist will carry out a dilated eye test to determine whether there are any early signs of diabetes related eye disease. The dilated eye test is just a simple procedure whereby some special eye drops are put into the eye, making the pupils to open wider so that the doctor can be able to assess all eye structures to check for any signs of eye problems. Therefore, all patients are encouraged to have an eye exam immediately after being diagnosed with diabetes and to have regular annual eye exams thereafter.