Glaucoma | The silent thief of sight

Glaucoma

If there was a disease that was irreversible, without a cure, that could put your eyesight at risk, you would want to know about it right?

Glaucoma is just that disease and is often called the thief of sight. It is sneaky as there are not strong symptoms at first. Making regular visits to your eye doctor is very important. Various conditions can cause increasing pressure inside your eyes. That increased pressure causes damage to the optic nerve. Left untreated, that damage can rob us of our sight. 

Some of the causes of increasing pressure include:

• Heredity - From your parents
  
• Eye injuries early in life or recently. They could be physical or chemical.
  
• Rarely, eye surgery can increase the risk of glaucoma. 
  
• Incorrect test results- There are times when the cornea of the eye is thin and can cause low reading in the glaucoma check.
  
• Age as we age the risks increase making it important to get an annual eye exam after the age of 40.
  
• Blood clots in the blood vessels in the eye creating increased pressure in the eye.
  
• Doctors don’t know why but people who are nearsighted are at an increased risk.
  
• Infection in the eye can lead to glaucoma. It may be the infection itself or even the treatment of the infection that can lead to glaucoma.
  

We have explored some of the factors that can increase the chance of developing  glaucoma,  since we know that glaucoma can not lets see if there are things we can do to delay developing glaucoma.

• Regular eye exams can detect glaucoma early. If your eye doctor has given you a test with a little puff of air against your eye, that test was measuring the pressure in your eyes.
  
• Regular  exercise.
  
• There are eye drops that can help reduce pressure in your eyes.
  
• Protect your eyes from injuries
  
• Others your eye doctor can recommend to lower the pressure in your eyes.
  

https://www.glaucoma.org/gleams/what-can-i-do-to-prevent-glaucoma.php

If you have any questions or it has been a while since your last eye exam, feel free to give us a call to set up an appointment with Dr. Filchak or Dr. Todd.

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