Glaucoma

Glaucoma often is called the "silent thief of sight," because most types typically cause no pain and produce no symptoms until noticeable vision loss occurs.

For this reason, glaucoma often progresses undetected until the optic nerve already has been irreversibly damaged, with varying degrees of permanent vision loss. There are also acute cases, where symptoms occur suddenly and can include blurry vision, halos around lights, intense eye pain, nausea and vomiting. If you have these symptoms, call us immediately so steps can be taken to prevent permanent vision loss.

Treatment can involve glaucoma surgery. lasers or medication, depending on the severity. Eye drops with medication aimed at lowering your pressure usually are tried first to control glaucoma.

Because glaucoma often is painless, people may become careless about strict use of eye drops that can control eye pressure and help prevent permanent eye damage.

In fact, non-compliance with a program of prescribed glaucoma medication is a major reason for blindness caused by glaucoma.

We screen, diagnose and treat glaucoma at Woolf & Woolf, and we partner with a number of outside providers to co-manage surgery cases.

It's important that you're screened annually for glaucoma, regardless of your age, eyesight or overall health.

Glaucoma definitions and explanation provided by AllAboutVision.com.