Glaucoma

What is glaucoma?

Glaucoma encompasses a group of eye diseases that cause damage to your optic nerve and lead to blindness. The eye pressure often is elevated causing deterioration of the optic nerve but not always. Pressure determination and thorough evaluation of the optic nerve both are important in determining whether you have glaucoma.

The two main types of glaucoma are open-angle glaucoma and closed-angle glaucoma. The angle in the names of these diseases is the area where the drainage meshwork is located between your cornea and iris that allows excess fluid to exit your eyeball.

Open-angle glaucoma is the most common type of the disease. While your drainage angle is technically open, fluid doesn’t drain efficiently from your eye, much like the slow drainage from a clogged pipe in your sink. 

Open-angle glaucoma develops gradually and typically doesn’t cause any symptoms until your vision is damaged. 

Closed-angle glaucoma is less common but often causes rapid onset of acute symptoms, including:

• Blurred vision
• Rainbow halos around lights
• Severe eye pain
• Headache
• Nausea

These symptoms indicate an acute attack of closed-angle glaucoma, and you should get immediate medical attention and treatment to preserve your vision. 

What’s the best way to diagnose glaucoma in its early stages?

Dr. Weil offers standard glaucoma screening in all comprehensive eye exams. If there is suspicion of glaucoma then additional testing is done to determine whether you have glaucoma. These tests are the best way to diagnose the condition in its early stages so you can get the treatment you need before your vision is damaged. 

Dr. Weil diagnoses glaucoma with a variety of tests.

Tonometry measures the pressure inside your eye. Dr. Weil will use other tests to confirm your diagnosis, such as dilated pupil exams, ocular coherence tomography, visual field testing, photography, pachymetry, and electroretinography.

If you have an increased risk of glaucoma, Dr. Weil may document your optic nerve changes with optic nerve imaging and test the function of the optic nerve fibers with electroretinography and visual field testing. She can monitor changes in your retina and optic nerve and take action with customized treatment if your vision is at risk. 

What treatments are available for glaucoma?

Dr. Weil offers personalized treatment plans for glaucoma to address your particular needs. For example, first-line therapy offered may be either laser treatment to reduce the eye pressure or eye drop medication prescribed on-going to lower and control eye pressure. In most cases, these measures work well in early-stage glaucoma. In advanced glaucoma, referral to a glaucoma subspecialist may be undertaken to consider other surgical procedures.

If you’re concerned about glaucoma or are due for an eye exam, call Weil Eye Care Medical Center or make an appointment online today.