Glaucoma

May 15, 2018
|In Health of Eye
|By admin

Glaucoma is a disease that damages the optic nerve of your eye’s.  Usually, it occurs when fluid builds up in the front part of your eye. That extra fluid accumulate in the front of your eyes, increases the pressure of eye, damaging the optic nerve. Glaucoma is a number one cause of blindness for people over 60 years old. But blindness from glaucoma can often be prevented with early treatment.

Early signs of glaucoma

Types of glaucoma

There are two types of glaucoma.

  1. Open Angle Glaucoma
  2. Angle Closure Glaucoma

Open-Angle Glaucoma

Open angle is the most common type of glaucoma. This type of Glaucome happens slowly, where the eye does not drain fluid as well as it should and eye pressure builds up and starts damaging the optic nerve. This type of glaucoma is pain free and causes no vision changes at the beginning.

Regular eye examinations are very important to find early signs of damage to their optic nerve.glaucoma

Angle-closure glaucoma

Angle closure glaucoma happens when patient’s iris is very close to the drainage angle in their eye. As a result iris can block the drainage angle. It is like when a piece of tissue or paper covers a sink drain. When the drainage angle gets completely blocked, eye pressure rises quickly. This is called an Acute Attack. It is very painful and It is a true eye emergency. In this case you should call your optometrist or ophthalmologist right away or you might go blind.

Here are the signs of an acute angle-closure glaucoma attack:

1. Blurry Vision

2. Severe eye pain

3. Headache

4. Nausea

5. Vomit

6. You see rainbow-colored rings or halos around lights

Fast facts on glaucoma:

1. Glaucoma has been called the silent thief of sight.

2. The main types of glaucoma are open-angle and closed-angle.

3. Age and thyroid problems increase the risk of glaucoma.

4. Symptoms can include severe eye pain.

5. Treatment includes surgery and medications.

Many people with angle-closure glaucoma develop it gradually and slowly. This is called chronic angle-closure glaucoma. There are no symptoms at first, so they don’t know they have it until the damage is severe or they have an attack.

Angle-closure glaucoma can cause blindness if not treated right away.

Having yearly eye examination is very important to detect any abnormality in your eyes.

To book an appointment, please call 905-832-6262 or send us an email to eyesoneyesoptical@yahoo.ca

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