Diagnosing And Treating Glaucoma

There are many diseases that can affect our eyes and threaten our vision, including one that affects an estimated three million U.S. adults – Glaucoma. Glaucoma is characterized by the accumulation of pressure inside the eye. In many instances, this develops very slowly and gradually, meaning it can take some time for symptoms to appear. However, there are rare instances where the pressure builds suddenly, causing severe symptoms that will prompt you to seek professional help right away. This is because the pressure causes damage to the optic nerve, the purpose of which is to send messages from the eye to the brain to tell us what we can see.

Glaucoma can be caused by a range of different things, from taking certain medications or having particular medical conditions to underlying eye conditions like uveitis. When you are diagnosed with Glaucoma, your eye doctor may be able to identify what has caused your Glaucoma.

Symptoms of Glaucoma

In the vast majority of cases, glaucoma develops extremely slowly, and this can make it very difficult to realize that you are suffering from the condition. Unless you regularly attend comprehensive eye exams (which glaucoma testing forms part of), some damage may be done to your vision before you are diagnosed.

In slow-developing Glaucoma, the key symptoms of the condition include:

• Loss of peripheral vision
• Blurred vision
• Rainbow-colored circles around lights

If you are one of the small percentages of patients to develop acute Glaucoma, these symptoms will also be accompanied by:

• Intense eye pain
• Red eyes
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Headache/migraine
• Blurred vision

In either case, if you notice the symptoms of Glaucoma then you should make an appointment with your eye doctor as soon as possible. However, this is particularly true for patients who may have acute closed-angle Glaucoma.

Tests for Diagnosing Glaucoma

If you or your eye doctor suspect that you may have Glaucoma, there may be a number of different tests that you are asked to undergo to confirm a diagnosis. These could include the following:

A tonometry test: this is used to measure the pressure within your eye. It doesn’t hurt as eye drops are used to numb the eye and it takes just a few seconds.

Ophthalmoscopy

This dilated eye exam looks at the shape and color of the optic nerve to check for any abnormalities.

Perimetry

This is a visual field test that produces a map of your complete field of vision in order to determine if your eyesight has been affected by glaucoma. This is important since peripheral vision is usually one of the first things to be affected by the condition.

Gonioscopy

This test helps to establish what type of glaucoma is affecting you. It examines the angle where the iris meets the cornea to see whether it is open and wide (the most common type of glaucoma has this characteristic) or narrow and closed.

Pachymetry

This simple, painless test measures the thickness of your cornea, which is the clear, domed window on the front part of the eye. Again, this is painless, and it usually takes less than a minute to measure both eyes.

Using the information obtained from these tests, we will be able to confirm if you are suffering from Glaucoma and if so, which type. This is important as it will enable us to decide which treatment you require to prevent any (possibly further) vision loss from Glaucoma.