Glaucoma

Glaucoma is a leading cause of vision loss, but about half of people with glaucoma don’t know they have it. At Optic Gallery Horizon Ridge in Henderson, Nevada, Anne Valdez, OD, and the team offer glaucoma care, including eye exams, diagnosis, and long-term disease management. Call the office or book an appointment online today to learn more about treatment options for glaucoma

What is glaucoma?

Glaucoma is a serious eye disease in which high pressure inside your eye harms your optic nerve. Your optic nerve delivers signals from your retina (light-sensing tissues in the back of your eye) to your brain. You’re at risk for vision impairment and vision loss if it’s not functioning normally. 

What causes glaucoma?

Glaucoma happens when there’s a problem with fluid drainage in your eye. The drainage angle lies between your iris and cornea. This is where the inner-eye fluid drains out of your eye and into your circulatory system. 

The most common type of glaucoma, open-angle glaucoma, happens when this drainage angle is open but clogs within the drainage system. 

Closed-angle glaucoma, which is far rarer, occurs when your iris bulges forward and cuts off the drainage angle. 

When the fluid can’t leave your eye, it accumulates and pressures the optic nerve, leading to glaucoma.

What are the symptoms of glaucoma?

Open-angle glaucoma doesn’t cause symptoms early on. As high eye pressure destroys more optic nerve fibers, you may develop blind spots in your side vision. At that point, the disease is already late-stage.

Eventually, if you don’t take steps to treat the disease, you could experience tunnel vision (with no peripheral sight at all) or even total vision loss. 

Closed-angle glaucoma is different. It happens suddenly, with symptoms including: 

• Severe eye pain 
• Severe headache
• Red eyes
• Blurry or impaired vision
• Seeing halos or rainbows around lights
• Nausea and vomiting

A closed-angle glaucoma attack requires emergency eye care. If you don’t get immediate care, you could experience blindness in just a few days. 

How is glaucoma treated?

The standard treatment for glaucoma is eye drops, which you use daily. Glaucoma eye drops can lower eye pressure by improving fluid flow or reducing the amount of fluid your eye produces. 

If eye drops aren’t sufficient to stop glaucoma progression, you could need laser therapy or surgery to improve fluid outflow and reduce your eye pressure. 

A closed-angle glaucoma attack is usually treated with an emergency laser procedure that opens the drainage angle and relieves pressure.  

Optic Gallery Horizon Ridge recommends annual eye exams for all patients. Your annual eye exam includes a glaucoma screening, which means you can get an early diagnosis and prevent blindness.  

For help with glaucoma, call Optic Gallery Horizon Ridge or click on the online booking tool today.