Glaucoma

What is Glaucoma?

Usually, the optic nerve carries information from your eyes to the brain. Glaucoma is a condition where this nerve is damaged, potentially threatening your vision. Increased intraocular pressure damages optic nerve cells by pushing on the fragile nerves in the retina at the back of the eye.

Anyone is at risk of glaucoma, especially people over the age of 40. At Weldon Opticians we routinely check for symptoms during your eye examination.

What are the symptoms?

In the early stages of glaucoma there may be no obvious symptoms and so regular eye exams are the best way to detect this disease from the onset. As the disease progresses, some people may be affected by the narrowing of the visual field.

What are the causes?

Although not entirely clear, it’s thought that a blockage within the eye’s drainage network is one of the main causes of glaucoma. Depending on the type of glaucoma diagnosed, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the IOP (intraocular pressure) will be higher than normal.

What can happen if it’s left untreated?

If left untreated, glaucoma can threaten your vision. This ranges from the initial impairment of your peripheral vision to permanent blindness.

What treatment options are available?

Often, we can control the effects of glaucoma by administering special eye drops. This glaucoma treatment should help alleviate the pressure within the eye but where the drainage system is blocked, surgery is often the best option.

Regular eye exams

At Weldon Opticians we believe in supporting our community’s health through annual, comprehensive eye exams. We use a Topcon non-contact tonometer to measure your eye pressure, Henson visual field screening and Zeiss Visual Field instruments for reliable detection. Having a glaucoma scan every year along with your comprehensive eye exam is also incredibly important if you have a family history of glaucoma.

These thorough and detailed assessments can offer you peace of mind and protect and preserve your vision in the long run and will also allow us to refer you to the hospital for further treatment immediately if needed.