Diabetic Retinopathy Specialist
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Hecker Eye Care Associates
Ophthalmologists located in Greensboro, NC
Regular diabetic eye exams are critical to the early detection of diseases such as diabetic retinopathy. The eye care providers at Hecker Eye Care Associates have been providing diabetic eye care to Greensboro, North Carolina, residents for over 16 years. If you have diabetes and notice changes in your vision, don’t wait to make your appointment with the Hecker Eye Care team. You can schedule your appointment online or by calling the office.
Diabetic Retinopathy
What is diabetic retinopathy?
Diabetic retinopathy is an eye disease that affects the retina — the light-sensitive tissues in the back of the eye.
If you have diabetic retinopathy, the blood vessels in your retina become damaged. This can lead to them leaking fluid and blood. In severe cases, the blood vessels may even close and new, abnormal blood vessels develop on the retina.
This disease can impact people with both type 1 and type 2 diabetes.
What are the symptoms of diabetic retinopathy?
In its beginning stages, you may not notice any signs of diabetic retinopathy. But, as the disease advances, you may start to notice:
- Spots or strings (called “floaters”) in your vision
- Blurred vision
- Vision loss
Diabetic retinopathy is often present in both eyes, not just one.
How is diabetic retinopathy diagnosed?
To test for diabetic retinopathy, the providers at Hecker Eye Care Associates dilate your eyes and perform a comprehensive eye examination, which checks for the presence of leaky blood vessels and other eye conditions like glaucoma and cataracts.
Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is also an advanced imaging platform that the Hecker Eye Care Associates team uses to evaluate the health of the retina and optic nerve and can help to determine if the fluid has leaked into the retinal tissue.
How is diabetic retinopathy treated?
If undetected and untreated, diabetic retinopathy can lead to blindness, which is why it’s so important to schedule regular diabetic eye exams with Hecker Eye Care Associates if you have diabetes.
Once detected, the most important thing you can do to slow its progress is to get better control of your blood sugar levels, blood pressure, and cholesterol.
Other ways to treat diabetic retinopathy include:
- Vitrectomy to remove scar tissue and blood from the eye
- Laser treatments to stop leakage in the eye or shrink abnormal blood vessels
- Anti-VEGF Injection Therapy to reverse abnormal blood vessel growth and decrease fluid in the retina
The providers at Hecker Eye Care Associates determine the best treatment based on the severity of your diabetic retinopathy and the need for referral to their retina colleagues. While these treatments slow the loss of vision, once the vision is lost, it’s permanent.
If you have diabetes, be sure to schedule routine diabetic eye exams at Hecker Eye Care Associates. Contact the office to schedule your appointment or schedule it using the online booking system.
