Glaucoma

What is glaucoma?

Glaucoma is a common eye disease that affects your optic nerve. It’s caused by high pressure in your eyes and can lead to vision loss when left untreated — glaucoma is the leading cause of blindness in people over 60. Because there are usually no warning signs of glaucoma, routine eye exams, and eye pressure screenings are important. 

What are the symptoms of glaucoma?

The common symptoms of glaucoma include:

• Tunnel vision
• Patchy blind spots in both eyes
• Nausea and vomiting
• Eye pain
• Severe headaches
• Blurry vision
• Eye redness
• Seeing halos around lights

When left untreated, glaucoma eventually causes blindness, which is why early detection and treatment are vital.

What are the risk factors for glaucoma?

Anyone can develop glaucoma, but the common risk factors include:

• Being over 60
• Family history of glaucoma
• High internal eye pressure
• Being Black
• Thin corneas
• Extreme nearsightedness or farsightedness
• Eye injuries
• Some eye surgeries
• Long-term corticosteroid use
• Certain medical conditions

Diabetes, high blood pressure, sickle cell anemia, and heart disease are some of the medical conditions that boost your risk of developing glaucoma.

The best ways to reduce your chance of glaucoma or detect it in an early stage include attending routine dilated eye exams, exercising moderately (as instructed by your doctor), taking prescribed eye drops, using eye protection, and understanding your glaucoma risk factors.

How does my provider diagnose glaucoma?

To find out if you have glaucoma, your Eye Tech Optometric Center provider reviews your medical history, including the symptoms you have, your medication regimen, your lifestyle habits, and your personal and family history of disease.

They also complete vision testing, measure internal eye pressure, complete a dilated eye exam with wide retinal imaging, and check for vision loss. Your optometrist measures corneal thickness and completes additional diagnostic testing if necessary.

The specific diagnostic tests available at Eye Tech Optometric Center include gonioscopy, visual field testing, optical coherence tomography (OCT), and corneal pachymetry. 

How is glaucoma treated?

The most common treatments for glaucoma include:

Lifestyle changes

Healthy habits that may reduce glaucoma progression include eating nutritious foods, exercising safely, drinking moderate amounts of fluid, and limiting your caffeine intake. Take medication as directed by your provider and sleep with your head elevated.

Eye drops

Your specialist may prescribe eye drops, which decrease eye pressure by improving the way fluid drains from your eyes. The drops may also lessen the amount of fluid your eyes produce.

Oral medicines

You might need to take oral medications if prescribed eye drops don’t reduce your eye pressure enough.

Laser therapy

Laser treatment is an option for some types of glaucoma. Your provider uses a laser beam to open clogged channels in certain parts of your eyes.

Drainage tube placement

Inserting small tube shunts in your eyes can drain excess fluid and reduce excessive eye pressure.

Surgery

In some cases, your specialist recommends minimally invasive eye surgery to reduce eye pressure and your risk of vision loss.

To get screened or treated for glaucoma, call Eye Tech Optometric Center or use the online scheduler today.