The best Lasik surgeons in Los Angeles describe Glaucoma as a group of eye conditions that damage your eye’s optic nerve. Getting diagnosed in the early stages of glaucoma is important and may improve your options for treatment.
What Is Glaucoma?
In most cases, Glaucoma occurs when the pressure inside the eye is too high. The pressure can lead to damage of the optic nerve. When the optic nerve is impaired, it has a tough time transmitting images to your brain. If the damage continues, glaucoma can result in permanent vision problems and if the person neglects to receive treatment, glaucoma can result in complete blindness within a short number of years. There are varying risk factors for glaucoma. It’s sometimes inherited and could make its appearance later in life.
Some people have glaucoma and don’t even know it because early symptoms can be somewhat mild. To avoid long-term visual loss, it is advisable to visit the best Lasik surgeons in Los Angeles to provide any necessary treatment.
People who are forty years of age and over, and have a family history of glaucoma, should consider getting a thorough eye exam from an optometrist every one to two years. Also, if you have health conditions such as diabetes, or are at risk for other eye diseases, make it a point to visit your eye doctor more often.
What Causes Glaucoma?
In many circumstances, glaucoma is a result of higher than usual pressure inside the eye. This is a condition known as ocular hypertension. However, glaucoma can sometimes happen even when the pressure inside the eye, which is called intraocular pressure or “IOP” is well-adjusted. It is common to see optic nerve damage and vision loss in many types of glaucoma since the pressure inside the eye (IOP) can be extreme.
Normally, the space between the cornea (the clear front surface of the eye) and the lens inside the eye is filled with a clear fluid called aqueous humor. This fluid is responsible for feeding and caring for the inside of the anterior part of the eye. Furthermore, it keeps the shape of the eye by retaining a properly pressurized eyeball.
The ciliary body, which is located around the eye’s lens, steadily produces aqueous humor. The aqueous humor is drained from the eye through a mesh looking channel called the trabecular meshwork that is situated in the angle formed within the eye where the cornea and iris join together.
If there is a situation where the drainage angle closes down or the trabecular meshwork gets clogged, the aqueous humor cannot drain from the eye quickly enough, and the pressure inside the eye (IOP) accumulates.
On the whole, glaucoma happens when there is too much pressure inside the eye which leads to damage to the optic nerve that is located at the back of the eyeball and may cause permanent vision loss.
Further study has concluded that low intracranial pressure, which is the pressure that encircles the brain, is another risk factor for glaucoma.
What Are The Types of Glaucoma?
There are two significant types of glaucoma which are:
Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma
This is the most universal type of glaucoma. It happens slowly and is when the eye does not drain fluid properly (sort of like a backed-up drain). This leads to eye pressure building up and begins to damage the optic nerve. This type of glaucoma is painless and does not initially result in vision changes.
There are a small number of people who have optic nerves that are extremely delicate to normal eye pressure. This could signify that they are at a huge risk of developing glaucoma. These individuals should regularly have eye exams to detect early signs of damage to their optic nerve.
Angle-Closure Glaucoma (Closed-Angle Glaucoma Or Narrow-Angled Glaucoma)
This type of glaucoma usually occurs when the person’s iris is adjacent to the drainage angle within their eye. The iris starts to obstruct the drainage angle. When the drainage angle is totally closed off, eye pressure increases rapidly. This is referred to as an acute attack. This is an extreme danger to the eye, and you should get in touch with the best Lasik surgeons in Los Angeles immediately, or you will go blind.
These are the symptoms of an acute angle-closure glaucoma attack:
- Blurry vision
- Severe eye pain
- Headache
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Seeing rainbow-colored rings or halos around lights
A lot of people with angle-closure glaucoma develop it slowly. This is known as chronic angle-closure glaucoma. In the beginning, there are no signs so these people carry on as normal until the damage is very serious or they have an attack. It is important to note that angle-closure glaucoma can result in blindness if not treated immediately.
How Does An Optometrist Treat Glaucoma?
Surgery is not the only method of treating glaucoma. Various treatment methods depend on the severity and how early on you got diagnosed. Treatments for glaucoma can include medicated eye drops, microsurgery, laser treatments, and of course other forms of eye surgery.
You should know that glaucoma treatments can avoid more vision loss, but they cannot restore the vision that has already been lost because of the disease.
Based on the type, how severe your glaucoma is, and how your eyes respond to glaucoma treatment, your ophthalmologist may prescribe medical treatment, surgery, or a mix of both.
If you’re diagnosed with glaucoma in its early stages, your eye doctor will most likely prescribe a topical medication, which usually comes in the form of eye drops. The goal of glaucoma eye drops is to lower IOP so you avoid vision loss.
In serious cases, glaucoma surgery is often a better alternative than medication to manage glaucoma and prevent vision loss. If you are experiencing any of the symptoms listed above, or have a family history of glaucoma, get in touch with Excel Laser Vision Institute at + (818) 907-8606 to schedule your free eye evaluation today!
