Wouldn't it be incredible if you could see your own blood vessels inside your body?  What if you could see your own brain tissue?

Wait.  You can with retinal photography.  Every day I take photos of the back (and front) of my patient's eyes and it is amazing how much information can be gleaned.  Your eye doctor can detect high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes just from looking for changes in your eyes.  Sometimes detecting these changes can save a person's vision from permanent damage; sometimes they can even save them from the repercussions of serious systemic diseases.

I can't recommend having a comprehensive eye examination more, even if you have no vision issues.  We all should want to see the inner workings of our bodies, and the eye is the perfect window inside!

Here are some of the photographs I have taken of common ocular conditions and diseases just this year.  I apologize about the persistent artifacts from my camera -- they look like 2 white circular glare areas in every photo.

MYELINATED NERVE FIBER LAYER (looks bad, but this is actually a harmless finding ) Myelination typically only exists behind the eye, but sometimes passes into the eye without harming vision

SCATTERED DRUSEN Enlarge this photo and you will see tiny yellow areas that are known as drusen near the dark central vision spot (the macula) Drusen are harmless by themselves, but can put you at a heightened risk for Macular Degeneration

CENTRAL RETINAL VEIN OCCLUSION This prompts an immediate referral and investigation for systemic health issues

CENTRAL SEROUS RETINOPATHY The area of edema is visible as subtle color changes around the macula This condition causes central vision changes, and is often due to stress Usually no treatment is necessary, just time for the swelling to resolve

ADULT VITELLIFORM DYSTROPHY See the yellow area at the macula?  It shouldn't be there.  This condition can cause central vision disruption, and no real treatment exists