Symptoms
Glaucoma is a common eye condition, typically seen in adults ages 60 and older, but can occur at any age.
Glaucoma occurs when there is damage to the optic nerve. This can be from eye trauma or disease, but is most commonly caused from high pressure within the eye.
We are born with about 1.2 million nerves in each eye. It is normal for a gradual decline in the number of these nerves as we age.
People with glaucoma lose these nerves faster than normal.
Usually there are no symptoms to this disease until it is very advanced and that is why glaucoma is a dangerous disease.
Regular eye exams are the best way to detect glaucoma at an early stage.
Common Glaucoma Symptoms
Because glaucoma is often caused by high eye pressure, you may not notice symptoms until damage to the optic nerve has occurred. Contact Arizona Eye Center if you have any of these symptoms:
Sudden Vision Loss
Vision loss due to glaucoma may look like patchy blind spots, tunnel vision, or blurred vision.
Changes to Peripheral Vision
A gradual loss of peripheral vision, also known as “tunnel vision” is the most common symptom of glaucoma.
Changes to Eye Appearance
Redness of the eye, or the eye appearing hazy may be indicators of glaucoma.
Diagnosis
Vision loss due to glaucoma can’t be recovered, and it is a leading cause of blindness in older adults.
Fortunately, if glaucoma is detected early, vision loss can be prevented or minimized. Once diagnosed with glaucoma, patients will need lifelong treatment.
Diagnosing glaucoma can be difficult. Symptoms may not appear until vision loss begins. Many glaucoma patients (up to 30%) do not have high eye pressure.
Glaucoma Prevention
Glaucoma is an unpreventable disease, however there are many treatment options to mitigate damage caused by glaucoma.
Get Regular Eye Exams
Comprehensive eye exams can diagnose glaucoma early before significant damage occurs.
Understand Your Risks
Knowing family health history of glaucoma and sharing it with your team at Arizona Eye Center can help ensure you are being properly screened.
Treatment
Currently, the only treatment for glaucoma is to lower the pressure within the eye. This can be done through medicated eye drops or surgical procedures.
Depending on how advanced your glaucoma is, your ophthalmologist may prescribe medicated eye drops to control the pressure in your eye and stop the progression of glaucoma.
If drops alone don’t work, there are surgical options to treat glaucoma.
How to Treat Glaucoma
Standard Glaucoma Treatments
There are many different eye drops with different mechanism that can lower your eye pressure. Arizona Eye Center are experts at choosing the ones that fit your needs.
Surgical Options for Glaucoma
There are multiple lasers and surgical devices made to help lower the eye pressure. There are so many surgical techniques and devices we cannot describe them all on this website. New devices and advances in surgery in this field are so common our website cannot keep up. So, make an appointment with Arizona Eye Center to discuss what is best for you.
Prevention is Key
Call Arizona Eye Centers to schedule an eye health exam that includes glaucoma screening.
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