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Read articleGlaucoma is damage to the optic nerve, usually associated with raised pressure inside the eye, which destroys side vision silently before it affects central vision. Sight already lost cannot be recovered, so early detection is the whole battle.
Symptoms
Not everyone gets every symptom, and the pattern can differ in older people, in people with diabetes and in children. These are the ones most often reported.
- No symptoms in the common chronic form until vision is substantially lost
- Gradual loss of side vision, so that objects are bumped into
- Difficulty adjusting to dim light
- Severe eye pain with redness, headache and vomiting in acute angle-closure
- Coloured halos around lights during an acute attack
- Blurring of vision in one eye
When to see a doctor
Do not wait these out
If any of the following applies, arrange to be seen the same day. For anything sudden or severe, call 9281862028 or come straight to the emergency department at SIMS — it is open 24 hours and does not need an appointment.
- Sudden severe eye pain with redness, halos and vomiting — attend the emergency department, as sight can be lost within hours
- Noticing that side vision is reduced, or bumping into objects
- Anyone over 40 with a family history of glaucoma should be screened
- Anyone using steroid eye drops long term, which can raise eye pressure
Tests that may be advised
Your consultant will order only the investigations that change the plan. Most of the following are available on the SIMS campus, so results usually come back the same visit.
- Intraocular pressure measurement (tonometry)
- Optic disc examination after dilation
- Visual field testing (perimetry)
- Gonioscopy to examine the drainage angle
- Optical coherence tomography of the nerve fibre layer where available
How it is treated
Treatment is decided case by case — by how advanced the problem is, what else you are being treated for, and what you can realistically sustain. Broadly, it involves the following.
- Pressure-lowering eye drops used lifelong and at fixed times
- Laser treatment for angle-closure and selected open-angle cases
- Surgical drainage procedures where drops and laser are insufficient
- Emergency pressure reduction in acute angle-closure glaucoma
- Regular field testing and follow-up, since the disease is monitored rather than cured
This page is general information, not a diagnosis
Glaucoma can look like several other conditions, and the reverse is equally true. Nothing here can replace an examination, your test results and the judgement of the doctor treating you — and no medicine mentioned by name to a friend or relative should be started on the strength of this page. If you recognise yourself in it, book a consultation with the Ophthalmology department. If a symptom is sudden or severe, call 9281862028.
