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Medical eye care

Glaucoma takes your side vision first, and it does not hurt.

From the doctors at Webb Eyecare

That combination is the whole problem. By the time most people notice something is wrong, they have already lost vision that does not come back.

What it is

Glaucoma is damage to the optic nerve, the cable carrying what you see from the eye to the brain. It is often, though not always, associated with pressure inside the eye being too high for that particular nerve to tolerate.

The damage tends to start at the edges of your vision. Your brain is very good at filling in gaps, so you can lose a surprising amount of peripheral vision without noticing.

Who is more at risk

• Age: risk rises after about 40, and more steeply after 60.
• Family history: a parent or sibling with glaucoma raises your own risk substantially.
• Certain health conditions, including diabetes and high blood pressure.
• Higher eye pressure, or a thinner cornea, both of which we measure.
• Past eye injury, or long-term steroid use.

Risk factors are not a diagnosis. They are a reason to be examined on schedule rather than when something feels wrong.

How it is found

During a comprehensive exam. We measure the pressure inside the eye, look directly at the optic nerve, and where there is reason to, image the nerve and test your peripheral vision. Those measurements are compared over time, which is how change gets caught.

What treatment looks like

The goal is to protect the vision you still have. Most people start with prescription eye drops that lower pressure. Some are candidates for laser treatment or surgery, which is where we co-manage with a surgeon and handle the visits either side locally. More on medical eye care.

Vision already lost to glaucoma cannot be restored. That is the honest part, and it is exactly why the schedule matters more here than almost anywhere else in eye care.

If glaucoma runs in your family, say so at your next exam even if nobody has asked. It changes how closely we watch.