Diabetes
Diabetes is a difficult disease with many possible consequences to your overall health. Eye health is no exception. Patients with diagnosed diabetes must be very careful with their eyes or risk developing serious complications– including permanent vision loss. If you are diabetic, you require yearly checkups to diagnose and treat any problems.
Eye Pain
Even seemingly insignificant eye pain can lead to serious consequences. If you experience eye pain lasting more than a few hours, consider visiting our health professionals to diagnose and treat the cause. Many different things can precede eye pain
- foreign bodies
- infections
- diseases
all of which could also lead to further problems such as abrasions, styes or iritis.
Visual field testing
After serious incidents such as strokes or other vascular events, damaged eyes need rehabilitation just like any other part of the body. In such cases, visual field testing is often needed to clear a patient for driving, work or other requirements. The Vision Gallery offers certified visual field testing and we will ensure your experience is efficient and comfortable.
Monitoring side effects
Certain medications require close monitoring of your vision to help diagnose potential side effects. These side effects can be serious, but regular exams will prevent them from worsening. Plaquenil– on such medicine– is used to treat juvenile arthritis and other conditions such as lupus, but can cause side effects that can disrupt your vision.
Medically Necessary
Alberta Health covers immediate treatment “for a medical condition, episode of illness or trauma.” Some examples:
- Infection or injury
- Foreign object
- Sudden changes to vision
- Sudden pain
Remember, the final say on what is deemed necessary is up to the optometrist that performs the procedure. Make sure to ask your doctor before any exam begins to be sure of any costs.
