Dr. Steven Ferguson launched the Diabetic Eye Clinic to focus on reducing the loss of vision from diabetes, improving patient education and enhancing the quality of diabetic eye care in the region. They serve as an advocate for patients and a partner to help manage their eye health and protect their gift of sight.

Diabetic Eye Care in Dakota Dunes, SD

Protect Your Gift of Sight with the Best Diabetic Eye Care

Diabetes poses unique challenges when it comes to your vision. Patients diagnosed with diabetes or pre-diabetes should have comprehensive well-vision and vision-medical exams conducted annually by a doctor. Dunes Eye Consultants provides quality diabetic eye care in Dakota Dunes, SD, and throughout the surrounding areas. Our expertise has helped improve the quality of life for countless patients through specialized vision-medical exams, comprehensive treatment plans and coordinating treatment with patients' primary care physicians. Diabetes is the most common-occurring cause of vision loss and blindness for people younger than 65. Protect your gift of sight and ensure the best overall eye health with proper diagnosis and treatment from Dunes Eye Consultants.

 

We Are Experts in Treating Diabetic Eye Disease

90% of vision loss from diabetes can be prevented through comprehensive and diligent intervention, regular exams and follow-up appointments. We launched the Diabetic Eye Clinic to focus on reducing the loss of vision from diabetes, improving patient education and enhancing the quality of diabetic eye care in the region. We continue to serve as an advocate for patients and a partner to help manage eye health. Using the most advanced and effective technology, called an optomap ultra-widefield screening device, we are able to accurately evaluate the small vessel structure, making the diagnosis of diabetic eye disease easier to detect at the earliest stages. Early detection and treatment allow for the most ideal outcomes.

 

What’s Diabetic Eye Disease & How Do I Prevent Vision Loss?

Diabetic eye disease can encompass a wide range of eye problems, including dry eye, temporary blurry vision, early cataract formation, the risk of converting and developing glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy. Diabetic retinopathy is an eye condition that causes damage to blood vessels in the retina due to high blood sugar. The blood vessels can swell, leak fluid or even bleed, which can often lead to critical vision changes or blindness. When left untreated, diabetic retinopathy can cause scarring to the retina. Prevention is always the most effective treatment to protect from vision loss. Patients with diabetes should keep control of blood sugar levels and have a close follow-up with their medical doctor to ensure the correct medicine and dosage are prescribed. Blood pressure control, routine cholesterol level monitoring, a healthy diet and regular cardiovascular exercise are all critical aspects of vision loss prevention.

 

The Four Stages of Diabetic Retinopathy

Diabetic retinopathy is a treatable complication, especially when an early diagnosis is obtained. Protecting your vision lies with knowing the stages of diabetic retinopathy and what to expect. There are four stages, classified as mild nonproliferative, moderate nonproliferative, severe nonproliferative and proliferative:

 

1. Mild Nonproliferative: This first stage typically involves balloon-like swelling in small areas of the retina’s blood vessels.
2. Moderate Nonproliferative: The second stage leads to blockage of the retina’s blood vessels.
3. Severe Nonproliferative: This is the third stage associated with more blocked blood vessels and leads to inadequate blood flow to areas of the retina. This severe blockage results in an inability to replace damaged blood vessels with new ones.
4. Proliferative: The fourth and final stage is an advanced stage of the disease where new blood vessels grow but in a frail and abnormal state, which can lead to blood leakage, vision loss and possibly blindness.

 

Detect Diabetic Retinopathy with Our Advanced Technology

Your eyes are a window to your health and early signs of disease can be present, remaining undetected for a long time when using traditional eye evaluation methods. Dunes Eye Consultants use a unique, advanced and more thorough technology called an optomap ultra-widefield retina image to capture more than 80% of your retina in a single image. Your retina is the only place in the body where blood vessels can be seen directly, making it a location to detect early signs of diabetes long before you notice any changes in your vision. Optomap imaging is a quick and painless diabetic eye exam suitable for the entire family. Nothing touches your eye at any time during the screening. An image is captured one eye at a time, and each image is captured in less than a half-second. These images are immediately available after the screening, helping our doctors detect potential early signs of retinal disease more effectively and efficiently than traditional eye exams. This early detection means more successful treatments can be used to reduce the risk of damage to your sight and health.

 

What Makes Us Different

Dunes Eye Consultants was founded in 2003 by Dr. Steve Ferguson to protect your precious gift of sight with the best, outcome-based care possible. What sets us apart is the state-of-the-art treatment and diagnostics, personalized attention and individually structured care for every patient, every visit. Dunes Eye Consultants is committed to providing excellent service to every patient. As a leader in vision correction, we offer specialized care for diabetic patients, migraine and chronic headache sufferers, post-concussion symptoms, traumatic brain injuries and dry eye sufferers and MGD patients. To learn more, schedule your appointment today.