Diagnosing and Care for Glaucoma

Your eyesight is immensely complex that any problem in your visual system can compromise your vision. One such issue is glaucoma, which refers to a group of eye diseases that affect millions of people in the United States. The condition can lead to vision loss and blindness due to pressure buildup within the eye, thus damaging the optic nerve.

Symptoms of Glaucoma

There are several different kinds of glaucoma. The two most common types are primary open-angle glaucoma and closed-angle glaucoma. Blind spots and the gradual loss of peripheral vision often indicate open-angle glaucoma. Patients with an advanced stage of this kind may also experience tunnel vision. On the other hand, closed-angle or angle-closure glaucoma demonstrate more severe symptoms. These include headaches, blurred vision, severe eye pain, nausea, vomiting, red eyes, seeing halos around lights, and eventual blindness.

Glaucoma can occur in one or both eyes. These symptoms usually start slowly, so you may not notice them at first. Once you experience these symptoms, contact your eye specialist immediately.

Detection and Diagnosis

The only surefire way to determine if you have glaucoma is to get a complete eye exam. Eye specialists generally use several quick, painless tests to find out if you have this eye condition. During the eye exam, your doctor will conduct the following:

• Inspect pressure in your eyes using a tonometer.

• Measure the drainage angle of your eyes with gonioscopy.

• Conduct optic nerve assessment to see if it’s healthy.

• Perform a visual field test or perimetry to test your peripheral vision.

• Examine the thickness of your cornea using a probe called pachymeter.

A glaucoma test can be performed as part of your comprehensive dilated eye exam. Unfortunately, there is no cure for glaucoma. Once diagnosed with this condition, it is crucial to start your treatment as soon as possible. While the treatments used will not undo the damage to your vision, it can keep it from getting worse.

Treatment for Glaucoma

Eye doctors generally use different types of treatment for glaucoma. All of them aim to reduce pressure buildup in the eye. These treatments include the following:

• Prescription Eye Drops. This type of medication is the most common treatment for glaucoma. It helps lower eye pressure and prevents optic nerve damage.

• Laser Treatment. Another way to reduce eye pressure is to use lasers to drain fluid out of your affected eye.

• Conventional Surgery. If medicines and laser treatments fail to control eye pressure, your doctor may recommend surgery. It will not reverse vision loss, but it can reduce pressure in the eye.
   

Since glaucoma initially has few symptoms, it is sometimes called the silent thief of sight. To keep this from slowly damaging your eyes and cause irreparable harm to your vision, it is crucial to regularly visit your doctor. This way, you can ensure that you are not developing the disease. It is highly recommended for people older than 65 or with a family history of this condition to get a complete eye exam every couple of years.

Schedule your eye checkup today at Berris Optical in Rocky River, Ohio. Call us now at (440) 571-7100 to make an appointment.