Glaucoma is a common eye disorder that is, in fact, not one but an entire group of disorders with a common label. It is a disorder that damages the optic nerve, which serves to send the images from the eye to the brain.
It was once believed that glaucoma was caused by high fluid pressure inside the eye (called intraocular pressure). Experts now know that, while high intraocular pressure is a risk factor for glaucoma, it is not the only cause.
The early stages of glaucoma are undetectable, and experts estimate that only half of the people who currently have glaucoma even realize that they are affected. However, like so many eye-related disorders, early diagnosis is essential. Because the early stages of glaucoma have no noticeable symptoms, regular eye exams are recommended for everyone, even those who have no eye-related symptoms or problems.
While there is no cure for glaucoma, many medications and procedures exist that can help to slow the disease or stop it altogether. Without treatment, glaucoma can cause total permanent blindness within a few years.
Most common type where the eye structure appears normal, however, fluid in the eye does not flow properly through the drain of the eye.
Less common type where drainage may be poor because the angle between the iris and the cornea is too narrow.
Early Diagnosis is Essential
While there is no cure for glaucoma, many medications and procedures exist that can help to slow glaucoma or stop it altogether. The early stages have no noticeable symptoms, so regular eye exams are recommended for everyone, even those who have no eye-related symptoms or problems.
Treatment for Glaucoma
The treatments for glaucoma have advanced greatly in recent years. As a result, medications have become better tolerated with fewer side effects and lasers have become an integral treatment for multiple forms of glaucoma.
A primary treatment for open-angle glaucoma (OAG) is Selective Laser Trabeculoplasty (SLT). This procedure can significantly lower pressure and sometime reduce a patient’s need for medication. We are one of the few practices in central Ohio that offer this procedure in office thus often saving patients hundreds of dollars in ASC facility fees
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