If you have diabetes, you are at a greater risk of various sight issues and eye-related conditions that could cause partial or total loss of vision. In fact, diabetes is the leading cause of blindness among adults and one of the most common is Diabetic Retinopathy.

What Is Diabetic Retinopathy?

Diabetic Retinopathy is a condition that people with diabetes can suffer when their level of blood sugar is above a certain level for a long period of time. The blood sugar blocks the blood vessels that maintain your retinas’ health, and when your body tries to make new blood vessels they’re not as strong. Eventually your retinas weaken and get damaged enough that you go completely blind.

Early symptoms include:

• Decreased central vision—you’ll notice it when you are reading or driving
• Inability to see colours as clearly or at all
• General blurry vision
• Holes or black spots in your vision

If you have diabetes and experience any of these symptoms you should immediately see your doctor. They will run some tests and book you for a special eye exam, but it is also advisable to have regular eye exams done by an optometrist.

Why Is Regular Testing Important?

People who have diabetes in any form are strongly recommended to have annual dilated retina exams. These are not conducted at your usual check up every year, but is a more thorough test performed by a specialist to check for early signs of Diabetic Retinopathy. The reason why it is recommended is because early diagnosis and treatment can help you avoid loss of vision.

Eye doctors and specialists recommend you have these exams every one or two years depending on factors:

• The type of diabetes you have (type 1 or 2)
• How long you’ve had diabetes
• How often your blood sugar levels change
• How well controlled your blood sugar levels are

In general, the longer you live with diabetes and the more severe your type is, the more likely you are to develop Diabetic Retinopathy. Regular eye exams can also help spot, diagnose and treat other eye conditions diabetic people are prone to such as glaucoma or Diabetic macular edema.

How Can I Protect Myself?

If you want to know what you can do on your own to keep your eyes healthy and avoid Diabetic Retinopathy, there are a number of things you can do:

• Maintain good blood sugar levels with a healthy diet, regular exercise, and insulin use
• Maintain good blood pressure since Retinopathy is more likely to develop if you have high levels
• Have regular eye exams from your specialist to spot early symptoms
• Check with an ophthalmologist if you experience any eye pain or changes in your vision

You can also avoid things that are likely to exacerbate things like blood vessel health and blood pressure levels, such as smoking, weight lifting, or contact sports. Regular exercise is important, however, as they help maintain healthy blood sugar levels. Make sure you consult with your doctor to figure out a safe exercise regimen.

When was the last time you had an eye exam? Depending on your age, you may need eye exams on a different schedule. Children to late adolescents will want to schedule an appointment at least once every year. Growing eyes can undergo rapid changes that could mean serious new needs for your eyes.

If you’re a younger to middle-aged adult, you probably don’t expect your vision to change very much. Many believe that an exam every two years is okay for someone in this age group, but on that schedule, it can be very easy to simply let eye exams fall by the wayside.

Not updating your prescription regularly can present very real dangers. Those dangers include missing out on important things such as…

Changing Prescription

If you don’t have an eye appointment often enough, you may not notice when your prescription changes. The differences may happen so gradually that you don’t even notice that you are starting to strain to see things that you once saw easily. By the time your prescription is completely outdated, you may be the last person to know.

If you see an eye doctor regularly, you’ll be able to keep your prescription as up-to-date as possible. Your glasses will always be the healthiest and most relaxing for your vision. All it takes is a short appointment to establish a new prescription, so stop by to see our eye doctors today.

New Features for Glasses and Contacts

Your prescription isn’t the only thing that may be out of date if you haven’t been to see the eye doctor in many years. The technology of glasses and contacts has changed a lot in even just the past few years. If you’re stuck wearing an older pair, you may be completely unaware of all the ways that your life could be better.

New technology for glasses includes such interesting options as transition sunglass lenses, anti-fog, anti-shatter & anti-glare selections. Contacts these days are being built lighter, thinner and safer than ever before. We can introduce you to some of our newest technology if you come in for a visit.

Serious Medical Issues

Infrequent eye exams can mean serious health issues go undetected. While many eye disorders have symptoms that can be easily identified, that is not true for all of them. Some disorders don’t produce any symptoms at all, and you wouldn’t recognize them if you weren’t a trained eye doctor performing a close exam.

Not all eye problems are related to diseases. Sometimes, the eye will simply age incorrectly as time goes on. For many reasons, it’s important to have an eye doctor take a close look at your vision every year or so. You don’t want to take any risks when it comes to your ability to see correctly

Has it been awhile since you upgraded your bifocals, or are you perhaps considering these types of glasses for the first time? You’ve picked the perfect time to jump into, or back into, the world of bifocals. Over the last few years, the technology available for bifocals has only gotten better, and these special types of glasses offer you more features and comfort than ever before.

Bifocals are glasses designed for people who have problems with both near and farsighted vision. The lower half of bifocal lenses can be used to more clearly see close objects, while the top half of the lenses can be used to view objects that are far away. The original style of producing bifocals involved fusing half-lenses together. Such glasses had very sharp lines in the middle, and were capable of breaking more easily.

Those problems and more have been solved by the newest generation of specs. Here are some of the enjoyable features you can expect when you purchase bifocals these days.

No More Annoying Lines

The sharp lines which once marked where the top and bottom half of the lens were separated have been removed by modern production techniques. Now, bifocals appear as a single, crystal-clear lens. Because many lenses these days are not made of glass, but instead plastic composites, it’s easy to manufacture a single lens that has different properties on different parts.

Pleasantly Light and Thin

Bifocal glasses once had a reputation as being uncomfortably heavy. Worse even, they weren’t very well balanced between the weights of the top and bottom half of the lenses. This could make them unstable on the face and just generally uncomfortable in general. Those new composites we talked about, however, are also surprisingly light and getting lighter.

As technology improves even further, better vision is capable with less and less material, making lenses lighter than they’ve ever been.

Endless New Features for Your Bifocal Lenses

Bifocals were not known as the most adaptable lenses in the past, but that has changed. Now, there are dozens of different lens treatments available at our eyecare clinic in British Columbia.  When you’ve picked your frame and lenses, you can pick from treatments such as sunglasses shading, transition lenses, anti-glare and anti-fog.

Pick Up New Bifocal Lenses Today

We would love to speak with you if you’re interested in seeing what today’s bifocal has to offer. Our helpful optometrists and technicians can answer all of your questions when you arrive. Scheduling an eye exam before you arrive will mean that you get the best and most up-to-date prescription for your new bifocals.

You can schedule an appointment right here if you are interested in trying out new glasses soon. We look forward to hearing from you.

If it’s been several years since you’ve updated your glasses prescription, it may be time to come into our Vancouver optometry clinic for a new one. You have much more than improved vision to look forward to when you purchase a new pair of glasses.

The technology available for different lenses has dramatically improved in just the last few years. The newest lenses and lens coatings available for your specs now come with a list of impressive features. Not all of these features can be combined onto the same pair of lenses, but any one of them could seriously improve your life:

Super Light Lenses

The newest types of lenses are made from polymers that weigh far less than glass. As this technology improves, lighter and lighter lenses are available for even the thickest of prescriptions. These new materials also have several other advantages over traditional glass lenses. For example, they are not as easy to shatter.

Many of the newest coatings available for lenses are also designed specifically for these polymer lenses. What follows are just some of the popular coatings that are available.

Sun Safe Lenses

If you have sensitive eyes, or you’d rather not wear sunglasses, you can still protect yourself from UV radiation. That’s because you can choose a UV blocking coating for your new lenses. The rate of protection differs by brand, but any one of them offers you significantly more protection than you would receive from traditional lenses.

These are a great choice if you have a job that often takes you outdoors.

Screen Safe

The blue light that is typically given off by phones and computer screens can exhaust your eyes and may be linked to mild health issues such as trouble sleeping. Blue-blocker lenses, as they are called, block the blue light that comes from screens. This may make it far more comfortable for you to use a computer for a much longer period.

Blue blocker lenses should be considered by those who work night shifts, or those who have positions that involve staring at a computer for more than four hours per day. The blocking of blue light can restore natural circadian rhythms to people who have sleeping problems because of screens.

Anti-Scratch

If you’ve worn glasses your entire life, you know how easily and casually they can be scratched. It’s rarely worth it to replace glasses over a single scratch, so most pairs build up a small collection of scratches as they age.

You can do better with modern lenses. Scratch resistant coatings are available that are not easily damaged. Your glasses will be looking completely pristine long into their life.

Check out some New Lenses Today

We would love to show you all the great features that are available with modern lenses. You can stop by our clinic to have a complete optometry appointment and to learn about our frames and other options.

If you’re chronically covered in specs, but have never experienced the joys of prescription sunglasses, you’re in for a real treat.

No one has to remind you of the little conveniences that you experience because you need glasses. You’ve probably done everything that all of us have—misplaced them, stepped on them, lost that one tiny little screw that holds the whole thing together…Let’s face it, glasses can be a pain.

Two pairs of glasses is just double the trouble. Carrying and switching between two sets all day long is an endless lesson in frustration, but it’s how most people who wear glasses live when they don’t have a set of prescription sunglasses.

Here are some of the things you’re missing, and how life will be different if you invest in a set of vision sunglasses today.

No More Switching—See All the Time

Ready for a long day at the beach? A walk to the Bistro? You can expect the sun to get in your eyes, but you’ll need to switch back to your normal glasses to check out signs and prices, or to hold a conversation with friends you meet on the street.

That isn’t the case when you’re rocking prescriptions sunglasses. You’ll enjoy a complete spectrum of protection in addition to being able to operate everything you need to, from bikes to checkout lanes without fumbling around to switch your glasses.

When you experience this freedom for the first time, you’ll wonder how you ever lived without it.

Lighten Your Load

Once you’ve gotten used to not bothering with switching out your specs, it’s time to head to the next level of convenience. Enjoy the freedom of bringing only one pair wherever you go! Plan ahead to lighten your load and bring only the pair you need. With proper planning, you’ll have the right pair for the job, and the pocket real estate too.

Leaving your main pair at home is also a precaution against losing both pairs if you want to take your prescription sunglasses somewhere adventurous, such as a whitewater rafting trip! You should invest in a back-up pair in the first place, so why not invest in one with a strong purpose?

Let Your Outfit Match Your Eyes

Now that you’ve got a solid set of prescription sunglasses, you get to start building your wardrobe around it. Remember, you no longer have to take off your sunglasses for most tasks, so you’ll enjoy the right to match the perfect outfit to your shades.

Even at our location, there are nearly hundreds of different kinds of sunglasses frames to choose from. You should be able to easily find a pair that matches your personal style, and the kind of look you want to show to the world.