Health Library Diabetes and Vision Problems: Performing Daily Diabetes Tasks When You Can't See WellFrom Healthwise

Taking care of yourself when you have diabetes is challenging. If you also have poor eyesight, you will want to take extra care to control your diabetes, especially your blood sugar levels. With time and practice, your new routines for diabetes care will become natural to you.

Take charge of your diabetes care by making a few small changes to your routine. Organize and label your supplies, ask for help when you need it, and keep your blood sugar near normal.

 What can I do to help with my low vision?
 Why do I need to keep my blood sugar under control?
 How can I enhance my low vision to care for my diabetes?
 Where to get more information

More information about diabetes can be found in these topics:

• Type 1 Diabetes: Living With the Disease
• Type 2 Diabetes: Living With the Disease
• Type 1 Diabetes: Living With Complications
• Type 2 Diabetes: Living With Complications

Return to topic:

There are several simple things you can do that will allow you to continue to care for yourself. For example, you can use felt-tip markers to label your medicines and record your blood sugar results. Felt-tip markers make a bolder print that is easier to see.

There are also many vision aids that are specially made for people with diabetes who have poor vision, such as magnifiers that enlarge the unit markings on syringes.

The results of long-term studies show that keeping blood sugar levels as close to normal as possible reduces the risk of the development and progression of retinopathy.¹

Keep your blood sugar levels near normal by eating a diet that spreads carbohydrate throughout the day, monitoring your blood sugar levels, getting regular physical activity, and taking insulin or medicines for type 2 diabetes if prescribed. One study found that teens who kept their blood sugar levels near normal reduced their risk for developing diabetic retinopathy and reduced kidney damage during young adulthood.²

A few simple organizing and labeling tricks may be all that you need to adapt your daily diabetes tasks for your remaining vision. If these things are not enough for you to continue most or all of your diabetes care, you can choose from several available vision aids for people with diabetes who have limited eyesight.

Use the suggestions below to make the best use of your reduced vision.

General principles

These general principles can enhance your remaining vision to help you continue all your diabetes care tasks.

• Learn to look around your blind spots to see objects through your remaining vision. For example, if you have lost central vision, train your eyes to look at objects from your outer vision areas.
• Use your other senses (touch, taste, smell, and hearing) to fill in information that you can't see. For example, use your fingertips, thumbs, back of your hand, or forearm to examine your feet for cuts or other injuries. And use smell to detect any odors that may indicate foot infections.
• Use lighting and contrast. Direct lighting is usually best for reading. Many people prefer incandescent lighting instead of fluorescent. Using contrasting background colors will help you see objects, such as a white background for dark objects.
• Ask for help if you need it. Just because you need help with one task does not mean that you need help with all tasks.

Simple tricks for diabetes care

Here are some simple, inexpensive organizing and labeling tricks you can use.

• Use felt-tip markers to label medicines and record blood sugar results. Felt-tip markers come in different thicknesses. Choose the thickness that you can see best with your remaining vision.
• Use large print for record keeping. The actual size of what's called "large print" varies. Choose the print size that works best for you. You can buy a large-print record booklet or make one on a computer or by hand on a sheet of paper.
• Use bright colors, stickers, or rubber bands to identify different types of insulin bottles. For example, if you are taking a long-acting and a short-acting insulin, you might use a rubber band around the short-acting insulin and nothing on the long-acting insulin.
• Label your medicines and supplies. Label your medicine bottles using large print on 3 x 5 cards and tape the cards to the bottles. Use separate labeled containers for your extra blood sugar testing, insulin, and injection supplies. It is helpful to label your medicines at the pharmacy, before you get them home.
• Organize your medicine cabinet so that you can easily locate each medicine. For example, line up your medicines in alphabetical order. A daily, weekly, or monthly medicine organizer may be helpful for organizing daily doses. But be sure you get one with large enough print.

Choose appropriate vision aids

Although your eyesight may fluctuate from day to day, low-vision aids can help you use your remaining vision to its full potential. A low-vision aid is any tool that helps your remaining vision. There are many vision aids specifically for diabetes care, and a different one may be needed for different tasks.

Some low-vision aids that may be helpful for you include:

• Magnifying lenses (which make images larger). These include eyeglasses with special lenses, a handheld magnifying glass, a magnifying lens mounted on a stand for reading, or a device that you can clip onto your glasses (like the device a jeweler uses). Special magnifying aids are available that enlarge the unit markings on insulin syringes.
• Needle guides and other devices that help you locate and stick the needle through the rubber stopper on your insulin bottle and help you prepare mixed- or single-dose insulin injections. There are also bottle-holding devices that help you hold the bottle and syringe to safely withdraw insulin. Insulin pens that indicate the units by clicking or have large-print markings can be used to give insulin that comes in a cartridge.
• "Talking" or large-print home blood sugar meters. A large-print meter can help you see your blood sugar result clearly. There are also some "talking" meters.
• "Talking" or large-print food scales. If you need to weigh your food, there are large-print or talking food scales. You can also estimate portion sizes by other means. For example, 1 cup is about the amount you can place in your cupped hand.
• Computerized blood sugar records. Most home blood sugar meter companies have computer software that allows your blood sugar results to be entered directly into a computer so that you do not have to keep handwritten records. You can also print these in large print so that you can read the records.
• Tape recorder for record keeping. You can record your daily blood sugar results and other information directly into a tape recorder.

Now that you have read this information, you are ready to find ways to enhance your eyesight so that you can continue your daily diabetes care.

Talk with your diabetes specialist (doctor, registered dietitian, or certified diabetes educator)

If you have questions about this information, take it with you when you visit your diabetes specialist. You may want to mark areas or make notes in the margins of the pages where you have questions.

If you need help finding vision aids, talk with your diabetes specialist about having a low-vision evaluation by a low-vision specialist. A low-vision specialist can help you find out which aids will enhance your remaining vision.

If you would like more information about diabetes-related vision problems and low-vision enhancements, the following resources are available:

Organizations

• Type 1 Diabetes: Living With Complications
• Type 1 Diabetes: Living With the Disease
• Type 2 Diabetes: Living With Complications
• Type 2 Diabetes: Living With the Disease

Citations

1. Fong D, et al. (2004). Retinopathy in diabetes. Diabetes Care, 27(Suppl 1): S84–S87.
2. Epidemiology of Diabetes Interventions and Complications (EDIC) Research Group (2001). Beneficial effects of intensive therapy of diabetes during adolescence: Outcomes after the conclusion of the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT). Journal of Pediatrics, 139(6): 804–812.

Author:	Jeannette Curtis	Last Updated: April 7, 2009
Medical Review:	Caroline S. Rhoads, MD - Internal Medicine Christopher J. Rudnisky, MD, FRCSC - Ophthalmology
© 1995-2010 Healthwise, Incorporated. Healthwise, Healthwise for every health decision, and the Healthwise logo are trademarks of Healthwise, Incorporated. This information does not replace the advice of a doctor. Healthwise disclaims any warranty or liability for your use of this information. Your use of this information means that you agree to the Terms of Use. How this information was developed to help you make better health decisions.