Glaucoma
What is glaucoma?
Glaucoma is an eye disease associated with optic nerve damage. It’s often due to fluid buildup in the front of your eye that increases eye pressure and damage.
Vision loss can occur if glaucoma is left untreated, as a healthy optic nerve is crucial for proper vision.
What are the symptoms of glaucoma?
The symptoms you experience with glaucoma depends on the type and severity of your disease. In the early stages of glaucoma, there aren’t any symptoms. As the disease progresses, however, you may experience:
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Peripheral vision blind spots
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Tunnel vision
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Eye redness
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Blurred vision
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Eye pain
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Severe headaches
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Halos around lights
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Nausea or vomiting
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Blindness
Complete or partial vision loss can occur if glaucoma is left untreated, which is why early detection and treatment are so important.
What are the risk factors for glaucoma?
Glaucoma can happen to anybody, but the following factors increase your risk of developing it:
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Being over age 60
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Having high intraocular pressure
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Being of Asian, Hispanic, or African American decent
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Taking certain eye medications long term
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Being very farsighted or nearsighted
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Having heart disease, high blood pressure, or diabetes
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Past eye surgeries
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Having thin corneas
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Family history of glaucoma
There are several steps you can take to lower your risk of developing glaucoma and its complications.
Examples include getting regular exercise, having routine dilated eye exams at Athena Eye Institute, protecting your eyes from injury, and using eye drops if prescribed.
Virtual Visual Field Test
How is glaucoma diagnosed?
Dr. Reddy and her team review your medical history and complete a comprehensive eye exam and tests to diagnose glaucoma.
Certain eye tests measure intraocular pressure, check for vision loss, measure corneal thickness, and allow Dr. Reddy to detect optic nerve damage.
What is the treatment for glaucoma?
Your personalized glaucoma treatment plan depends on the type and severity of your condition. Dr. Reddy might recommend you use prescription eye drops, oral medicines, or undergo laser or other minimally invasive eye surgeries to reduce pressure in your eye and correct other eye issues like cataracts.
Eating a healthy diet, exercising regularly, limiting caffeine, drinking plenty of fluids, and sleeping with your head elevated can help control high eye pressure too.
Don’t let glaucoma progress to the point of vision loss. Schedule an appointment with Athena Eye Institute over the phone or online today.