When you blink, tears are produced to cleanse and lubricate your eyes. Excess tears are drained away through the tear ducts into the sinus cavity. That is why your nose runs when you cry.

The tears enter the nasal lactermal duct through the punctum. You can see in this diagram that there is a punctual port on both the upper and lower eye lid of each eye.

If your cornea isn't getting enough moisture, you could have dry eye complications. Often times, dry eye conditions can be treated with over-the-counter eye drops. If this type of therapy doesn't work effectively, other treatment options for dry eyes may include prescription eye drops or punctual plug inserts.

Punctual plugs can be used to partially or fully block the tear ducts to help retain tear film moisture. Your eye doctor might insert temporary plugs that may dissolve in a few weeks to test you for compatibility and effectively. If they work well, your doctor can easily insert permanent plugs that do not dissolve.

Talk to your eye care professional for more information about dry eye syndrome and treatments involving eye drop therapy and/or punctual plugs.

Diabetic retinopathy is the leading cause of blindness in the United States. Diabetes is a disease that effects blood vessels throughout the body including the eye. Some of the smallest and most delicate blood vessels in our body are found in the retina. Therefore they are some of the first ones affected by poor blood sugar control.

With diabetes, the blood vessels walls get damaged by chemical reactions caused by high sugar levels in the blood. Blood vessel walls can bulge and then leak causing swelling and hemorrhaging in the eye.

With proper care, diabetic eye disease can be controled allowing vision to be maintained. When diabetic patients fail to take care of their disease and it affects the eyes there can be permenant damage such as decreased vision and even blindness.

Some diabetics never have any eye issues and some have many eye problems. Each patient is different. Fortunately your eye care professional can detect and monitor eye damage and vision changes caused by diabetes.
The good news is there are new and improved medical treatments for those patients who do have diabetic eye disease. If you have diabetes you need to keep your sugar levels under control and have regular eye exams.

Make sure you get a yearly comprehensive eye exam by your eye care professional.