What is glaucoma?
Glaucoma refers to a group of eye diseases that damage the optic nerve — the optic nerve can’t heal itself, so damage is permanent. When glaucoma isn’t diagnosed and treated early, progressive nerve damage causes loss of vision and blindness.
Glaucoma develops when intraocular pressure (pressure inside the eye) rises higher than normal. Intraocular pressure is controlled by fluid in your eyes. As new fluid is constantly produced and flows into the eye, an equal amount of old fluid must flow out of the eye to maintain normal pressure.
When this system gets out of balance — often because the drainage system doesn’t work properly — eye pressure increases. As pressure goes up, it pushes against the optic nerve, damaging the fragile nerve cells.
What are the different types of glaucoma?
The most common types of glaucoma include:
- Open-angle glaucoma: the most common type; develops slowly as drainage canals become clogged
- Angle-closure glaucoma: part of the eye covers the drainage opening; normally develops gradually but can occur suddenly
- Normal tension glaucoma: optic nerve damage develops while pressure stays normal
- Childhood glaucoma: a rare, inherited type of glaucoma
How is glaucoma diagnosed?
With early detection and treatment, you can keep eye pressure normal and protect your eyes from nerve damage and vision loss. The tricky thing about glaucoma is that most people don’t have symptoms until nerve damage is severe enough to cause vision problems.
The best way to protect your vision is with regular eye exams. The doctors at Marina Del Rey Optometry perform several tests to detect glaucoma, including tonometry (which measures eye pressure) and a dilated eye exam (to examine the appearance of your retina and optic nerve).
Your doctor also does a visual field test, which measures your peripheral vision. Loss of peripheral vision is the first sign of glaucoma.
How is glaucoma treated?
Treatment options for glaucoma include:
Medications
Eye drops are the first line of treatment for glaucoma. They contain diverse medications that lower eye pressure by reducing fluid production or improving fluid drainage from the eye.
Surgery
Laser and conventional surgeries are used to improve eye drainage. One type of surgery, trabeculectomy, removes a small amount of tissue to create a new channel for fluid to drain. A stent can be placed in the eye to bypass blocked areas and facilitate drainage. Another type of laser surgery targets the structures that produce fluids so that less fluid is released into your eyes.
