Glaucoma can strike anyone at any age, although it is most common among people age 40 or older. At Remagin, serving West Orlando and the surrounding area, our Windermere ophthalmologists have extensive experience helping patients with glaucoma, as well as providing eye care services. Left untreated, glaucoma can lead to permanent blindness. Here's what you need to know about this eye disease.
Causes of Glaucoma
The cause of glaucoma is associated with pressure inside the eye, which damages the optic nerve. This nerve has the important job of sending images to your brain. Therefore, glaucoma can lead to permanent vision loss. Other, less common, causes of glaucoma are due to inflammation in the eye, an injury to the eye, or an eye infection.
Who Is Typically Affected by Glaucoma
For many people, glaucoma is an inherited disease that does not occur until later in life. If you have diabetes, you may have an increased risk of developing glaucoma. People of African-American descent are more likely to develop glaucoma and have the disease at a younger age. Anyone who has taken steroid medications, such as prednisone, has a greater risk of developing glaucoma.
Symptoms and Signs of Glaucoma
Because glaucoma often doesn’t cause pain or have symptoms during its early stages, it is important to have regular eye exams with your eye doctor for preventative care, especially if you have a family history of this eye disease. Sometimes, symptoms of glaucoma do occur, such as seeing halos around lights, blurry vision, headaches, or eye pain. A loss of peripheral vision is usually the initial sign of glaucoma.
How Our Ophthalmologist Diagnosis, Treats, and Manages Glaucoma
When you have an eye exam with our eye doctor, he will check the intraocular pressure of the eye and examine the nerve and visual fields. If glaucoma is suspected, we will conduct additional tests of the visual fields and the optic nerve.
Glaucoma is treated and managed with eye drops to help lower the pressure in the eye. Some patients respond better to certain prescription eyedrops, which means that a trial-and-error process may be required for optimal treatment. Over time, most eyedrops for glaucoma have side effects, including dry eyes.
Laser surgery is necessary for some patients with glaucoma, and it is often a quick procedure that doesn’t require anesthesia and can be done in our office or outpatient same-day surgery center.
Contact Us
Here at Remagin, serving West Orlando and the surrounding area, our Windermere ophthalmologists provide early screening for glaucoma and have the expertise to give you the treatment you need if you've developed the disease. Contact us today at 407-704-3937 for more information about our eye care services or to schedule an appointment.