Why Regular Retinal Eye Exams Are Key to Healthy Vision

Life without healthy vision can be dark and stressful. To protect your vision, prevent serious vision problems, and to maintain your long-term eye health with ease, it is essential to receive regular retinal eye exams. Most of the diseases impacting the retina are very serious and need to be addressed quickly to avoid long-term damage or permanent vision loss. Retina conditions like diabetic retinopathy, macular degeneration, and retinal detachment can develop silently without noticeable symptoms in the early stages. The retina plays a critical role in processing visual information, making any threat to optimal operation an urgent situation. In this article, we will walk you through the importance of regular eye exams, how to protect your vision and prevent diseases of the retina, the trouble with detecting problems with the retina, when to visit a retina specialist, and how the OCLI Vision team can help. 

Importance of Regular Eye Exams

Your best defense against eye conditions is getting regular, comprehensive eye exams. During an eye exam, your eye doctor will take a full medical history and discuss with you any risk factors you may have. They will detail how serious your risk factors are and if you need to set a more frequent schedule for eye exams. For example, people with ocular hypertension that are not high risk for glaucoma may need more frequent exams as an ophthalmologist will want to monitor the condition closely to ensure it does not get worse, or require treatment. When you see an eye doctor that knows your history and risk factors, you can work together to prevent serious conditions and ensure the best vision. 

A comprehensive exam will also include physical tests, such as some of the following:

• Vision testing – Your visual acuity will be tested using imaging and charts, giving you insights into how well you can see. 
• Eye tests to measure different visual function and eye health including color vision, eye muscle movements, side and central vision, pupil dilation, and depth perception. 
• Keratometry to measure the cornea. This test is mostly used for contact lenses or if you are interested in laser vision correction. 
• Tonometry to measure the pressure in your eye, can be helpful in determining the presence of ocular hypertension or glaucoma. 

The tests performed will depend on your medical history, current eye conditions, and any concerns you may have. If you haven’t had an eye exam in awhile, schedule an appointment at an OCLI office today.  

How to Protect Your Vision and Prevent Diseases of the Retina

While comprehensive eye exams are great for general care and prevention of eye conditions, seeing a retinal specialist is important if you have retinal diseases. Retinal diseases can often present in the early stages with no symptoms, making it difficult to tell if something serious is wrong. A retinal specialist will be referred to you if something comes up on your eye exam impacting your retina health. For instance, your retinal specialist might notice a small tear before you even have floaters in your vision. These exams can help prevent retinal detachments from becoming more serious, catch the progression of macular degeneration before it can permanently impact your vision, and mitigate the impact of diabetes to ensure you do not develop diabetic retinopathy. If you have lived with uncontrolled diabetes for awhile, diabetic retinal eye exams can ensure the blood vessels in your eyes are not compromised from continually elevated blood sugar. 

A retinal specialist will also make sure to go over lifestyle changes and a regular retinal eye exam schedule that can prevent retinal diseases. A specialists advice may include some of the following tips:

• Eat an eye healthy diet – The key to eating for retina health is to fill your plate with colorful vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and nuts, and focus on getting enough vitamins and minerals. If you want to target the eyes specifically, eat foods rich in lutein and zeaxanthin, zinc, vitamin A, and vitamin E. 
• Protect your eyes from UV rays – Unfortunately, UV rays are known to negatively impact the eyes, leading to conditions such as macular degeneration and cataracts, among many others. Wearing UV-blocking sunglasses, hats, and staying out of the sun when possible is the best approach to avoiding permanent sun damage and vision changes.  
• Quit smoking – If you have not quit smoking or vaping already, consider stopping now. Smoking is a known carcinogen and while the research is still out on vaping, it does not look good. Smoking can increase your risk for serious eye conditions impacting the retina, like macular degeneration abd diabetic retinopathy. In fact, numerous studies continue to link smoking with an increased incidence of eye conditions. For help quitting, contact your doctor today. 
• Control diabetes and other chronic conditions – Chronic conditions, such as diabetes, can cause permanent damage to the blood vessels and other structures within the retina, so it is essential to manage them appropriately. You can make lifestyle changes, such as diet and exercise, to manage your diabetes and ensure it does not cause lasting damage to your vision.  
• Be honest about your risk factors – Finding an eye doctor you trust is vital to your retinal health. If you cannot be honest with them about your risk factors, including smoking and other lifestyle and genetic factors, they will be unable to give you the care you need. A medical doctor should never make you afraid to be honest about your health. If you are not comfortable with your doctor, contact the OCLI team today.

Why Retina Problems Are Hard to Detect Without a Retina Specialist

Sometimes, even when you do all the right things listed above, you can still develop retina issues. Unfortunately, serious conditions of the retina usually do not have any symptoms, making it virtually impossible to tell if you have retina damage without seeing a retina specialist. If you have sustained an injury to the face or the eyes, you should call our office right away and ask for a consultation as soon as possible so we can rule out damage to the structures of the eye. 

Additionally, if you have any sudden vision changes such as cloudy or blurry vision, a shadow over your eyes, trouble seeing side views or at night, or floaters, schedule an eye exam right away as these could indicate retina diseases. The sooner a retina specialist can diagnose and treat your condition, the sooner you can regain your sight. 

What is a Retinal Eye Exam?

Visiting a retina specialist for a retinal eye exam is important if you have a family history of retina diseases or you have been told that you are at risk for developing retina diseases. Your retina specialist will perform a comprehensive exam, as well as use different diagnostic tools, including optical coherence tomography which uses high resolution imaging to get a clear picture of the retina, fluorescein angiography which involves using an injected dye to take pictures of the blood vessels in the retina, and perform tests evaluating central and peripheral vision. 

How the OCLI Vision Team Can Help 

The OCLI Vision team is a collection of eye care professionals with outstanding qualifications in many eye care fields, including vitreoretinal. Call the OCLI office nearest you to schedule a retinal eye exam today!

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