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Don't Let Glaucoma Silently Take Away Your Vision

22 February 2016 by Ross Martin

Glaucoma is an eye disease that can progress slowly with few symptoms. If not caught early, it can damage structures in your eye before you know it. The result can be a permanent loss of vision. Here is what you need to know about this eye disease and how to keep it from affecting your vision.

Increased Pressure in the Eye is the Problem

Your eyeball keeps its shape by being filled with a thick fluid called the vitreous humor. Special ducts in the eye allow fluid to escape as new fluid is added to maintain a consistent pressure in the eye. Glaucoma disrupts the balance of pressure in the eyeball.

When you have this eye disease, the ducts in the eye no longer drain sufficient fluid and your eye may produce more vitreous humor. This causes the pressure in your eye to gradually increase. If the pressure in the eye becomes high enough, the optic nerve can be damaged, causing partial or total blindness. Because this increase in pressure is so gradual, you may not have symptoms until your vision has been affected.

Symptoms of Glaucoma

When people do experience symptoms from this high pressure in the eye, they may disregard them as something minor and not get their eyes examined. If your have any of the following symptoms, get into your ophthalmology clinic right away.

• You see faint rings of light, called halos, around bright lights, especially at night.
• There is a reddish tinge of color in the white part of your eye.
• You experience throbbing headaches and pain in one or both eyes.
• Your peripheral vision is clear but your central vision has become blurry.

Diagnosing Glaucoma

Your eye doctor will do a number of easy tests to determine if you're showing signs of glaucoma.

• They will do a physical examination of the optic nerve to look for signs of damage.
• The pressure of the fluid in your eye will be measured.
• Your central and peripheral vision will be tested.

Treating Glaucoma

While there is no cure for glaucoma, your eye doctor can recommend treatments that reduce the pressure in your eye and the potential damage to your optic nerve.

• Eye drops - These are placed in the eye on a regular schedule. This medication helps your eyeball to drain excess fluid from within. You will have to do these treatments for the rest of your life.
• Injections - A medication can be injected directly into the eyeball, which helps reduce the production of fluid and increase drainage. This treatment is also something you'll do for the rest of your life.
• Surgery - Surgery can be done to create new ducts in the eye to drain excess fluid and reduce the pressure.

For more information on eye health, consider contacting a professional like Jo Johnson, M.D.

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