Losing the sense of sight changes every aspect of living. In the past, people who developed blindness and had no safety net often ended up homeless, relying on begging for survival. While that happens far less commonly today, conditions like glaucoma still take a severe personal toll, and can result in blindness if not discovered and treated early. Glaucoma San Antonio patients fight optic nerve damage with education and the latest medical advances.
The disease is a combination of conditions that often afflicts both eyes, and is commonly characterized by an internal increase in fluids and pressure. Under normal circumstances those liquids drain, equalizing the pressure. If that process is blocked, internal fluid builds, placing damaging pressure on nearby ocular structures including the optic nerve. There are two primary forms, closed and open angle glaucoma.
Because the onset of symptoms is gradual, victims may be completely unaware they face danger. Over a period of years, nerve damage causes a loss of peripheral vision that may not be obvious. If untreated, later stages affect all types of vision, sometimes restricting it to a small, tunnel-shaped space directly in front of the eyes. Closed angle disease causes more acute symptoms that become immediately noticeable.
These include blurred vision accompanied by eye pain, which may be severe enough to cause nausea and vomiting. Lights appear to have surrounding auras, and adjusting to different illumination levels becomes difficult. Risk of developing the disease increases with age, and can also affected by ethnic background, previous eye surgery, and the presence of certain other illnesses.
Early diagnosis is the key to successful long-term treatment. Standard eye exams for glasses include simple, painless pressure testing, and can quickly detect unnaturally high readings. Gonioscopy is another diagnostic tool that helps determine the extend of blockage in the angle between cornea and iris. Lateral vision deterioration is tested using perimetry equipment, and there are measurements to determine optic nerve damage.
When an exam reveals existing issues, treatment often begins immediately. Although there are currently no complete cures for this combination of eye conditions, progression can now be dramatically slowed, and often halted. Existing destruction is not reversible, but the most effective medications include eye drops containing beta blockers, fluid inhibitors, prostaglandin analogues, or liquid flow stimulants.
In some cases, the drops may not prove effective, requiring surgery to relive pressure. Lasers are increasingly being used to unblock drainage passages, and some patients benefit from filtering procedures intended to relieve pressure manually. Some patients receive an aqueous shunt implant. Victims of acute-angle glaucoma are treated as emergencies cases, and require immediate pressure reducing drugs in combination with surgery.
Sufferers in San Antonio TX realize the importance of testing and treatment to combat the progression of this vision-robbing condition. Because there may be no apparent symptoms, only a vision specialist can detect the first signs of trouble. Technological advances in visual medicine have made detection simple and pain-free. Early diagnosis reduces the chance that long-term problems will develop.
The disease is a combination of conditions that often afflicts both eyes, and is commonly characterized by an internal increase in fluids and pressure. Under normal circumstances those liquids drain, equalizing the pressure. If that process is blocked, internal fluid builds, placing damaging pressure on nearby ocular structures including the optic nerve. There are two primary forms, closed and open angle glaucoma.
Because the onset of symptoms is gradual, victims may be completely unaware they face danger. Over a period of years, nerve damage causes a loss of peripheral vision that may not be obvious. If untreated, later stages affect all types of vision, sometimes restricting it to a small, tunnel-shaped space directly in front of the eyes. Closed angle disease causes more acute symptoms that become immediately noticeable.
These include blurred vision accompanied by eye pain, which may be severe enough to cause nausea and vomiting. Lights appear to have surrounding auras, and adjusting to different illumination levels becomes difficult. Risk of developing the disease increases with age, and can also affected by ethnic background, previous eye surgery, and the presence of certain other illnesses.
Early diagnosis is the key to successful long-term treatment. Standard eye exams for glasses include simple, painless pressure testing, and can quickly detect unnaturally high readings. Gonioscopy is another diagnostic tool that helps determine the extend of blockage in the angle between cornea and iris. Lateral vision deterioration is tested using perimetry equipment, and there are measurements to determine optic nerve damage.
When an exam reveals existing issues, treatment often begins immediately. Although there are currently no complete cures for this combination of eye conditions, progression can now be dramatically slowed, and often halted. Existing destruction is not reversible, but the most effective medications include eye drops containing beta blockers, fluid inhibitors, prostaglandin analogues, or liquid flow stimulants.
In some cases, the drops may not prove effective, requiring surgery to relive pressure. Lasers are increasingly being used to unblock drainage passages, and some patients benefit from filtering procedures intended to relieve pressure manually. Some patients receive an aqueous shunt implant. Victims of acute-angle glaucoma are treated as emergencies cases, and require immediate pressure reducing drugs in combination with surgery.
Sufferers in San Antonio TX realize the importance of testing and treatment to combat the progression of this vision-robbing condition. Because there may be no apparent symptoms, only a vision specialist can detect the first signs of trouble. Technological advances in visual medicine have made detection simple and pain-free. Early diagnosis reduces the chance that long-term problems will develop.
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