Numbers - these are a snapshot of your BG levels, so can be different even within a few mins, hence recommendations to test frequently with new foods to see spike effect.
Opticians - "high st' opticians are great for standard sight tests and eye health, however they are NOT experts at checking for diabetic retinopathy, the machines they use are great for general population but they are not trained to spot the tiny changes we need to be aware of. The eye drops that dilate your pupils are not used by high st opticians (or at least by the 7 different one s I have used). Significant retinopathy will be seen even without the eye drops.
Diabetic Retinopathy eye screening - the specialised yearly eye screening is essential to spot any initial changes especially background retinopathy. Eye drops are used to fully dilate the pupils to get a better photo.
I have slight background retinopathy - NO high st optician has ever spotted it (7 different opticians!!), BUT the diabetic eye screening test does and monitors that it hasn't got worst over the years.
see RNIB for more info
http://www.rnib.org.uk/eye-health-e...ted-diabetes?gclid=CMHF8f6l-MUCFSPItAodrSEAIg