Diabetic retinopathy

Understanding How Diabetes Can Affect Your Vision

Diabetic retinopathy is a condition that affects the eyes of people with diabetes. It happens when high blood sugar levels start to damage the tiny blood vessels that nourish the retina—the part of your eye that helps you see clearly.

Think of the retina like the film in a camera. It captures what you see and sends it to your brain. If it doesn’t get enough oxygen and nutrients from these blood vessels, your vision can start to suffer.

The good news? Diabetic retinopathy can be managed, and early treatment can protect your eyesight.

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Diabetic Retinopathy

Understanding How Diabetes Can Affect Your Vision

The good news? Diabetic retinopathy can be managed, and early treatment can protect your eyesight.

ARRANGE A CONSULTATION GIVE US A CALL

What are the symptoms of Diabetic Retinopathy?

One of the tricky things about diabetic retinopathy is that in the early stages, it often has no symptoms at all. Your vision might feel perfectly fine even when changes are already happening inside your eyes.

As the condition progresses, you might notice:

Blurred or fuzzy vision
Trouble seeing at night
Dark spots, floaters, or flashes of light
Gaps or patches in your vision
Sudden loss of vision if bleeding occurs
A feeling of pressure inside the eye (in advanced stages)

Not everyone experiences all of these symptoms—but if you notice anything unusual, it’s important to get checked right away.

👁️ Regular eye exams are essential, even if your vision seems normal.

What Causes Diabetic Retinopathy?

When you have high blood sugar over time, it puts pressure on the blood vessels all over your body—including the ones in your eyes.

These blood vessels can:

Leak fluid or blood
Close off completely
Grow in unusual ways, forming fragile new vessels that can bleed or scar the eye

As a result, the retina may not get the oxygen it needs, or it may become swollen, especially in the centre (the macula), affecting the sharpness of your vision.

Who Gets Diabetic Retinopathy?

Anyone with diabetes—type 1, type 2, or even gestational diabetes during pregnancy—can develop diabetic retinopathy. It’s more likely the longer you’ve had diabetes, especially if your blood sugar or blood pressure levels have been difficult to manage.

You’re at higher risk if:

You’ve had diabetes for many years
Your blood sugar control (HbA1c) has been poor
You also have high blood pressure or high cholesterol
You smoke
You’re pregnant and diabetic
You skip regular eye checks

Some people don’t even know they have diabetes until they visit the optician for vision changes. In fact, diabetic retinopathy can be the first sign of type 2 diabetes in some patients.

How We Treat Diabetic Retinopathy

Treatment depends on what stage the disease is at, and which part of the retina is affected. Not everyone will need treatment immediately—but if we do catch changes, early intervention can help save your sight.

1. Laser Treatment

When the retina becomes starved of oxygen, it tries to grow new blood vessels—but they are weak and likely to bleed. In this advanced stage, called proliferative diabetic retinopathy, we use laser therapy to:

Reduce the retina’s need for oxygen
Prevent bleeding inside the eye (vitreous haemorrhage)
Reduce the risk of retinal detachment

Laser treatment is a painless outpatient procedure that’s been used safely for decades.

2. Injections Into the Eye

If you develop diabetic macular oedema (DMO)—where fluid leaks into the central part of your retina—your vision can become blurred or distorted.

This is best treated with a course of injections into the eye using medications called anti-VEGF drugs. These help:

Reduce swelling
Stop further leakage
Improve and stabilise vision

Injections may sound intimidating, but they’re done with numbing drops, and most patients find them surprisingly quick and manageable.

3. Managing Your Diabetes and Blood Pressure

No treatment works well without good control of your underlying diabetes. That means:

Keeping your blood sugar (HbA1c) in range
Managing your blood pressure and cholesterol
Following a healthy diet, exercising, and avoiding smoking
Attending your scheduled diabetes reviews and eye checkups

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

+ Who gets diabetic retinopathy?

Diabetic retinopathy can happen in those with type 1 or type 2 diabetes, as well as pregnant women who develop diabetes in pregnancy. Risk factors for the condition are the duration someone has had diabetes, as well as poor diabetes and blood pressure control. It is common for retinopathy to be the presenting feature in a patient who was not known to have diabetes, particularly in those with type 2 diabetes.

+ Is there a treatment for diabetic retinopathy?

Laser treatment can be very effective for patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy, where the retina is very starved of oxygen and laser helps reduce the retina’s need for oxygen. This helps prevent bleeding within the eye as well as retinal detachment.

In patients with diabetic maculopathy, the retina becomes swollen due to leaky blood vessels. This is primarily treated with a course of injections into the eye, as well as laser in some cases. In all patients, good diabetes and blood pressure control is essential to protect the retina from further damage.

+ Can I reverse diabetic retinopathy?

While we can’t “reverse” the damage already done, we can slow or stop progression, and sometimes even improve vision with the right treatment.

+ Are the injections painful?

Most people feel only slight pressure or a small sting. The eye is numbed beforehand, and the procedure takes just a few minutes.

+ Is laser treatment safe?

Yes, it’s a well-established, outpatient treatment. It won’t improve your vision, but it helps stop it from getting worse.

+ Do I need to see a specialist or just go to my optician?

Opticians are great at spotting signs, but once diabetic retinopathy is suspected or confirmed, you should be seen by a retinal specialist for treatment planning.