Glaucoma
Seattle, Washington
If you have glaucoma, you may not even know it. Often referred to as the “silent thief of sight,” glaucoma occurs when pressure inside the eye builds to dangerous levels, potentially damaging the optic nerve responsible for carrying stimuli to the brain. The pressure caused by glaucoma is known as intraocular pressure (IOP), and, left untreated, can eventually cause blindness.
Signs and Symptoms of Glaucoma
Glaucoma typically produces no pain or symptoms. This is one of the reasons glaucoma is so insidious and often irreparably damages the optic nerve before the patient is even aware of it.
One exception to this silent progression of glaucoma is acute angle-closure glaucoma that includes suddenly occurring symptoms such as:
- Blurry vision
- Halos around lights
- Severe eye pain
- Dilated pupils
- Headaches
- Vision loss
- Nausea and vomiting
Whether or not these symptoms are serious can be confusing for the patient, since the symptoms can cease after a few hours, then return again later. Each time the symptoms occur, the patients vision is affected permanently. Patients who do not recognize these symptoms as serious may not seek immediate treatment.
A comprehensive eye examination is the best way to determine if you may be developing glaucoma. At Bellevue Lasik and Cornea in Seattle, Washington, leading LASIK surgeon Dr. Kent Leavitt uses the very latest diagnostic procedures to thoroughly and carefully evaluate your vision, including:
Tonometer: Measures intraocular pressure by blowing a puff of air onto the surface of the eye or resting gently against the surface of your eye, which is first numbed with eye drops.
Optic nerve imaging (using scanning laser polarimetry, optical coherence tomography, or confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscopy): Establishes a baseline and, over time, can indicate progressive glaucoma damage
Visual field testing: Tests your vision range to determine if blind spots are developing due to optic nerve damage
Ophthalmoscope: Helps Dr. Leavitt view internal eye structures, to assess outflow and drainage of eye fluids
Ultrasound biomicroscopy: Assists Dr. Leavitt in evaluating how well fluids are able to flow through angles inside the eye
Gonioscopy: Specialized lenses for a better view of internal eye structures
Glaucoma Types
- Acute angle-closure glaucoma
- Primary open angle glaucoma
- Congenital glaucoma
- Pigmentary glaucoma
- Normal tension glaucoma
- Secondary glaucoma
The term ‘angle’ refers to the way in which structures inside the eye work to properly drain fluids. Fluids that cannot drain properly remain in the eye and build up, causing damage to the optic nerve.
Primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) gradually reduces peripheral vision, but does it so slowly that permanent damage has often occurred by time the patient notices any visual changes. Untreated high intraocular pressure destroys the optic nerve until tunnel vision develops, leaving the patient able to see only objects straight ahead in the visual field.
Do not take chances with your vision. To learn more about glaucoma or schedule a thorough vision evaluation in Seattle, Washington, please contact Dr. Kent Leavitt at Bellevue Lasik and Cornea.