Can You Prevent A Busted Blood Vessel In The Eye
There are no proven methods to prevent blood vessels in your eye from popping. However, there are a few precautionary measures you can try. These include:
- Wearing protective eyewear during sports or while being in a dangerous environment
- Wearing sunglasses
- Avoiding violent sneezing and coughing if possible
- Avoiding activities likely to make you vomit, like heavy drinking
What Are The Symptoms
Most of the time, there are no symptoms of diabetic retinopathy until it starts to change your vision. When this happens, diabetic retinopathy is already severe. Having your eyes checked regularly can find diabetic retinopathy early enough to treat it and help prevent vision loss.
If you notice problems with your vision, call an eye doctor right away. Changes in vision can be a sign of severe damage to your eye. These changes can include floaters, pain in the eye, blurry vision, or new vision loss.
What To Think About
Pan-retinal laser treatment is used to treat several spots on the retina during one or, most often, two sessions. It reduces the risk of serious bleeding and the progression of severe proliferative retinopathy.
Laser photocoagulation can result in some loss of vision, because it destroys some of the nerve cells in the retina and can cause the abnormal blood vessels to go away. With pan-retinal photocoagulation, this most often affects the outside vision, because the laser is directed at that area. Your vision may be worse right after treatment. But vision loss caused by laser treatment is mild compared with the vision loss that may be caused by untreated retinopathy.
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Theres A Lot You Can Do To Treat Diabetic Retinopathy
When we notice signs of diabetic retinopathy during a patientâs routine eye exam, theyâre often very frightened. They worry that they will lose their vision. But most of the time, their disease is mild. We explain that the best way to stop vision loss is to make sure their blood sugar and blood pressure are both under good control. They need to watch their diet carefully and take all their medications as prescribed. Oftentimes, we show patients a picture of their eyeball so they can see the damage their diabetes has done. Thatâs usually enough to help them understand why blood sugar and blood pressure control are so critical to help their overall well-being.
But if your disease is more advanced, donât panic. The first step is a class of drugs known as anti-VEGFs. These medications help reduce eye swelling, which can slow down vision loss and even improve vision. Itâs given as a shot, injected into your eye at your eye specialistâs office. Laser surgery can also help seal off leaking blood vessels, shrink abnormal blood vessels, and reduce retinal swelling. If you have a very advanced case, you may need a type of eye surgery known as a vitrectomy. An eye surgeon will remove blood and plasma from your eye and remove scar tissue from your retina. This will also help you to see more clearly again.
Focal Or Grid Laser Photocoagulation
This type of laser energy is aimed directly at the affected area or applied in a contained, grid-like pattern to destroy damaged eye tissue and clear away scars that contribute to blind spots and vision loss. This method of laser treatment generally targets specific, individual blood vessels in the retina that have been damaged by diabetes.
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Symptoms Of A Subconjunctival Hemorrhage
The sclera is the white part of your eye that is covered by a thin, clear tissue called the conjunctiva. The conjunctiva also lines the inside of your eyelid and houses a network of tiny blood vessels, called capillaries.
Capillaries are fragile and can easily break. The burst vessel will then leak blood into the space between the conjunctiva and sclera.
The main symptom of a subconjunctival hemorrhage is a blood-red discoloration on the white of the eye. Over time, the redness will then turn a greenish or yellowish color, much like a bruise. The symptoms will usually disappear within two weeks.
A subconjunctival hemorrhage is usually painless, although some people may experience a scratchy sensation in the eye.
If the leakage of blood is small, a subconjunctival hemorrhage may only cause a small area of redness or even a tiny red speck.
But, if the leakage is significant, the entire white of the eye may look red. In some cases, the affected tissues may bulge visibly outward.
Diabetes A Disease Of Blood Vessels Especially In The Eye
Diabetes can be approached as a disease that affects blood vessels. This is true in diabetic peripheral neuropathy, kidney disease and diabetic retinopathy.
Did you ever hear that diabetes is a disease of blood vessels? Most people think that the definition of diabetes is simply uncontrolled blood sugar, but, in reality, diabetes may be thought of as a vascular disease.
Diabetes can be a very nasty disease affecting most organs in the body. Common problems caused by diabetes include peripheral neuropathy, kidney failure and diabetic retinopathy. The common denominator? Bad blood vessels.
Patients with diabetes can develop peripheral neuropathy. Symptoms of peripheral neuropathy include pain, but also numbness of the extremities. Numbness usually begins at the toes and ascends up the legs. At some point the fingers, hands and arms may become involved. The upper extremities become involved when the numbness has reached a high enough point on the leg so it is now about same distance from the heart as the finger tips. Basically, just remember, when caused by diabetes, peripheral neuropathy begins in the feet.
The problem? The fine, small caliber blood vessels that feed the nerves at the ends of the toes and fingers that give us sensation, eventually fail. Loss of blood supply leads to loss of nerve endings that cause numbness.
Randy
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When To Be Concerned About A Burst Blood Vessel In The Eye
Johnstone M. Kim, MD, is board-certified in ophthalmology. He’s a practicing physician at Midwest Retina in Dublin, Ohio and previously served as a full-time faculty member at the Wayne State University School of Medicine and the Kresge Eye Institute in Detroit, Michigan.
A subconjunctival hemorrhage occurs when a tiny blood vessel breaks just beneath the clear surface of the eye, called the conjunctiva. This can cause a speck of redness on the white of the eye or a larger area of visible blood.
While a subconjunctival hemorrhage can look scary, it is usually harmless and will resolve on its own without treatment.
In this article, you’ll learn about the causes and symptoms of a subconjunctival hemorrhage. It will also describe the treatment options and when it is time to see a healthcare provider.
Treatments For Diabetic Retinopathy
Treatment for diabetic retinopathy is only necessary if screening detects significant problems that mean your vision is at risk.
If the condition has not reached this stage, the above advice on managing your diabetes is recommended.
The main treatments for more advanced diabetic retinopathy are:
- laser treatment
- injections of medication into your eyes
- an operation to remove blood or scar tissue from your eyes
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How Does Diabetes Affect My Eyes
Diabetes affects your eyes when your blood glucose, also called blood sugar, is too high.
In the short term, you are not likely to have vision loss from high blood glucose. People sometimes have blurry vision for a few days or weeks when theyre changing their diabetes care plan or medicines. High glucose can change fluid levels or cause swelling in the tissues of your eyes that help you to focus, causing blurred vision. This type of blurry vision is temporary and goes away when your glucose level gets closer to normal.
If your blood glucose stays high over time, it can damage the tiny blood vessels in the back of your eyes. This damage can begin during prediabetes, when blood glucose is higher than normal, but not high enough for you to be diagnosed with diabetes. Damaged blood vessels may leak fluid and cause swelling. New, weak blood vessels may also begin to grow. These blood vessels can bleed into the middle part of the eye, lead to scarring, or cause dangerously high pressure inside your eye.
Most serious diabetic eye diseases begin with blood vessel problems. The four eye diseases that can threaten your sight are
Stage : Mild Nonproliferative Diabetic Retinopathy
This is the earliest stage of diabetic retinopathy, characterized by tiny areas of swelling in the blood vessels of the retina. These areas of swelling are known as micro aneurysms.
Small amounts of fluid can leak into the retina at the stage, triggering swelling of the macula. This is an area near the center of the retina.
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What Can I Do To Prevent Diabetic Retinopathy
Managing your diabetes is the best way to lower your risk of diabetic retinopathy. That means keeping your blood sugar levels in a healthy range. You can do this by getting regular physical activity, eating healthy, and carefully following your doctors instructions for your insulin or other diabetes medicines.
To make sure your diabetes treatment plan is working, youll need a special lab test called an A1C test. This test shows your average blood sugar level over the past 3 months. You can work with your doctor to set a personal A1C goal. Meeting your A1C goal can help prevent or manage diabetic retinopathy.
Having high blood pressure or high cholesterol along with diabetes increases your risk for diabetic retinopathy. So controlling your blood pressure and cholesterol can also help lower your risk for vision loss.
Treatment For Diabetic Retinopathy In Orange County Ca
Treatments are very effective in reducing vision loss from this disease. In fact, even people with advanced retinopathy have approximately a 90% chance of keeping their vision if they get treatment before the retina is severely damaged.
Usually, there is no treatment for the early stages of diabetic retinopathy unless macular edema or severe hemorrhage is detected.
If you are diabetic, you need to have a dilated eye exam at least once a year with one of our Orange County diabetic retinopathy specialists. Contact us today to schedule your exam.
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Blood Vessel Troubles Begin With Too Little Fas
A little fancy molecular biology, allowed scientists at Washington University, to create a very special kind of mouse, the FAS less mice .
What makes these mice so special, is they are unable to produce the enzyme, fatty acid synthase in their blood vessels. The mice can produce the enzyme in the rest of their bodies, so everywhere else things are normal.
It turns out, the FASTie mice develop broken blood vessels. The reason for this is because without the FAS enzyme, they are unable to produce a type of molecular glue, which holds another enzyme, nitric oxide synthase , onto the cells lining the blood vessels. The process that is defective is called palmitoylation.
The absence of the fused NOS becomes problematic, because the cells are not being supplied with sufficient nitric oxide, the chemical produced by the enzyme. Nitric oxide is a very important messenger so the blood vessels cant function properly. They become leaky when damaged and the repair process is flawed.
So who cares ?
Other Types Of Diabetic Eye Disease
Diabetic retinopathy is the most common cause of vision loss for people with diabetes. But diabetes can also make you more likely to develop several other eye conditions:
- Cataracts. Having diabetes makes you 2 to 5 times more likely to develop cataracts. It also makes you more likely to get them at a younger age. Learn more about cataracts.
- Open-angle glaucoma. Having diabetes nearly doubles your risk of developing a type of glaucoma called open-angle glaucoma. Learn more about glaucoma.
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Who Is More Likely To Develop Diabetic Eye Problems
Anyone with diabetes can develop diabetic eye disease. But your risk of developing it is higher if you:
- Have had diabetes for a long time
- Don’t have good control over your high blood sugar or high blood pressure
Talk with your doctor if you have these symptoms, even if they come and go:
- Spots or dark wavy strings floating in your vision
- Blurry or wavy vision
- Vision that changes a lot
- Trouble seeing colors
What Are The Symptoms Of Diabetic Eye Disease
Often there are no early symptoms of diabetic eye disease. You may have no pain and no change in your vision as damage begins to grow inside your eyes, particularly with diabetic retinopathy.
When symptoms do occur, they may include
- blurry or wavy vision
- frequently changing visionsometimes from day to day
- dark areas or vision loss
- poor color vision
- spots or dark strings
- flashes of light
Talk with your eye doctor if you have any of these symptoms.
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How Often Should You Have Your Eyes Examined
- If you have just been diagnosed with diabetes you should have your eyes examined promptly.
- If you have diabetes you should have your eyes examined regularly.
- If you are pregnant and have diabetes it is important to be seen by an ophthalmologist during your first trimester because pregnancy can accelerate the progression of diabetic retinopathy.
Warning Symptoms Of Diabetic Retinopathy
Many people with non-proliferative and proliferative diabetic retinopathy have normal vision, especially if vitreous hemorrhage or traction retinal detachment is absent. This is why regular eye examinations are essential since treatment is most effective before eyes lose vision. Blurred vision is the most common symptom caused by diabetic retinopathy. Another important symptom is the sudden onset of floaters which can be due to a vitreous hemorrhage.
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Will I Need To Get Touch
Diabetes continues to affect the body, so the patients diabetic retinopathy isnt cured. Youll still need to see us for regular eye exams so we can keep an eye out for any new development of abnormal blood vessels and possible blood leakage.
After having one of the possible treatments, such as focal or scatter laser treatment or a vitrectomy, you shouldnt think you can now forget about your diabetic retinopathy. Youll need to remain vigilant to prevent further vision loss.
Violent Coughing Or Sneezing
It’s possible for a blood vessel to rupture from violent coughing or sneezing. Both of these actions are forceful and are oftentimes involuntary. Coughing is meant to keep the throat clear and will oftentimes occur because of the flu or a cold. Chronic bouts of coughing tend to last for two to three weeks. Sneezes are similar in that they are designed to remove irritants from the throat or nose. While the act of sneezing is beneficial to the body’s health, it is also entirely involuntary and is oftentimes forceful. Bright lights, exposure to cold, and irritants like pepper are known to heighten the possibility of sneezing. When the act of coughing or sneezing is particularly violent, it’s possible the force will be high enough to cause a blood vessel in an individual’s eyes to rupture.
Learn more about the causes of a broken blood vessel in the eye now.
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Broken Blood Vessel In The Eye Is It Serious
Spotting a broken blood vessel in the white section of your eye can be scary. Often, it stands out dramatically, which alone can be concerning. Additionally, most people view bleeding as a sign of trouble, particularly if they spot it in their eye.
While bleeding in your eye can certainly be serious, a broken blood vessel isnt typically as bad as it appears. If you are wondering whether you should be concerned, heres what you need to know about broken blood vessels in the eye.
When Should I See A Doctor Right Away
Call a doctor right away if you notice sudden changes to your vision, including flashes of light or many more spots than usual. You also should see a doctor right away if it looks like a curtain is pulled over your eyes. These changes in your sight can be symptoms of a detached retina, which is a medical emergency.
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Can Diabetic Retinopathy Be Prevented
You can lower your chance of damaging small blood vessels in the eye by keeping your blood sugar levels and blood pressure levels within a target range. If you smoke, quit. All of this reduces the risk of damage to the retina. It can also help slow down how quickly your retinopathy gets worse and can prevent future vision loss.
If you have a dilated eye exam regularly, you and your doctor can find diabetic retinopathy before it has a chance to get worse. For most people, this will mean an eye exam every year. Finding retinopathy early gives you a better chance of avoiding vision loss and blindness.
What Increases Your Risk
Your risk for diabetic retinopathy depends largely on two things: how long you have had diabetes and whether or not you have kept good control of your blood sugar.
You can control some risk factors, which are things that may increase your risk for diabetic retinopathy and its complications. Risk factors that you can control include:
If you have type 2 diabetes and use the medicine rosiglitazone to treat your diabetes, you may have a higher risk for problems with the center of the retina . The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the makers of the drug have warned that taking this medicine could cause swelling in the macula, which is called macular edema.
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