What Is Glaucoma?
Glaucoma is a progressive eye disease that increases intraocular pressure and places excess pressure on the optic nerve. Without proper treatment and early detection, it can lead to partial or total blindness. Our team at Focal Point Vision can diagnose, treat, and manage your glaucoma to help you avoid the more severe side effects of this disease. Depending on the stage of your glaucoma, we offer a range of innovative treatments, like MIGS, iStent®, Kahook Dual Blade, and SLT. Please schedule an eye exam at our San Antonio, TX eye center to learn more. We are here to help protect your ocular health and help you live a high quality of life.
Glaucoma refers to a category of disorders that can harm the optic nerve, which is responsible for carrying visual impulses to the brain. If left untreated, glaucoma will typically cause permanent blind spots or complete blindness. In the early stages, glaucoma doesn’t have any glaring symptoms and is frequently referred to as the “silent thief.” Even though there is no cure for the disease, it can be slowed with early detection and the appropriate therapies. If you are over 40 years old, contact our team at Focal Point Vision in San Antonio, TX to schedule an eye exam and take control of your ocular health.
What Are The Symptoms Of Glaucoma?
While glaucoma can often go unnoticed without a professional eye exam, some common symptoms include:
- Pulsing eye pain
- Loss of peripheral vision (tunnel vision)
- Redness in the eyes
- Headaches
- Blurry vision
- Sudden vision loss
- Halos around lights
- Dilated pupils
- Nausea and vomiting
Glaucoma FAQ
Can glaucoma be cured?
Currently, there is no cure for glaucoma. However, there are several effective treatments that help to manage IOP (intraocular pressure) and preserve eye health. Regular eye exams for early diagnosis and treatment of glaucoma are the most effective way to ensure the overall health of your vision.
Can glaucoma cause blindness?
Because there are a wide variety of procedures and medications to treat glaucoma, blindness caused by glaucoma is now very rare. In the U.S., only about 5% of people diagnosed with glaucoma will go blind.
At what age should I start being checked for glaucoma?
Eye health is unique for each patient, but typically patients over the age of 40 should be checked for glaucoma during routine eye exams. Glaucoma can happen at any age but is more common in older adults over the age of 60.
What is the best treatment for glaucoma?
There is no “best” treatment for glaucoma. At Focal Point Vision, we will create a personalized treatment plan best suited to target and treat your glaucoma. This may include MIGS, trabeculectomy, medications, laser surgery, or glaucoma implants. During your consultation, we will examine your current eye health and medical history to determine which treatment is best to help preserve the health of your eyes and vision.
What Causes Glaucoma?
All types of glaucoma are caused by the deterioration of the optic nerve. Almost always, this trauma is due to increased internal eye pressure from eye fluid retention. In normally functioning eyes, the fluid essential to the eye tissue can easily flow as necessary via a unique tissue, the trabecular meshwork, which supports the area between the iris and the cornea. In some cases, this movement is obstructed or severely slowed, which leads to fluid buildup. When a diagnosis of glaucoma is established, there are a number of approaches patients can use to help control it. All of these methods focus on reducing intraocular pressure to avoid more trauma to the optical nerve.
How is Glaucoma Treated?
After a diagnosis of glaucoma is given, there are many techniques patients can choose from to effectively manage the condition. All of these treatments focus on alleviating intraocular pressure to avoid further trauma to the optical nerve. Most people who are in the very early stages of glaucoma can often curb or arrest their vision loss by managing the glaucoma with prescription eye drops.
For patients whose glaucoma has progressed further, more extensive treatments, including MIGS (minimally invasive glaucoma surgery), laser procedures, and trabeculectomies, can potentially ease the condition quite a bit. Whether we provide these treatments or need to refer our glaucoma patients to a trusted specialist, the Focal Point Vision team of highly skilled ophthalmologists is dedicated to establishing the ideal treatments for our patients’ personalized eye health care.
Do I Have Glaucoma?
At Focal Point Vision, we frequently see individuals living with glaucoma and help them to manage the disease. It’s crucial to know that detection and treatment in the early stages can help you keep your vision loss under control. Our board-certified ophthalmologists recommend that everyone who has possible symptoms, a family history of glaucoma, or who has already been diagnosed with glaucoma to arrange a visit to our San Antonio, TX facility. We will perform advanced diagnostics to assess your eye health and find out if any issue could exist.
