Here’s Why You Need a Glaucoma Eye Test

Glaucoma is an issue that slowly hurts the eye nerve and causes eye-related diseases. This can make seeing hard and, if not fixed, blind you. The eye nerve sends data to the brain from the eyes. Glaucoma is mainly tied to an increase in eye pressure, also called intraocular pressure (IOP). It can occur even with normal or low IOP levels.

Symptoms of Glaucoma

Glaucoma eyesight issues are generally known as the robberies of eyesight, as they slowly and gradually lead to loss of sight without any large identified problems or symptoms. Sometimes, if treatment is not provided properly, people start experiencing symptoms related to the type and stage of glaucoma eye problems. The major symptoms of glaucoma eye disease are:

Gradual Loss of Peripheral Vision

The easiest way to find out about glaucoma eye disease is that an individual will lose center vision, i.e., tunnel vision. This happens due to the effect on the optic nerve, which slowly narrows down the sight, starting from the outer edge to the inner side.

Blurred Sight

As glaucoma gradually increases, people will also experience blurred vision, particularly away from the center of the eye. This problem will make it difficult for the individual to see everything clearly, especially at night or even during periods of low light availability.

Eye Pain and Discomfort

People might feel a lot of pain in their eyes, get headaches, feel dizzy, or even want to throw up. These issues happen when the pressure inside the eye goes up. If these signs show up, then it’s best to see a doctor right away.

Troubles in the dark

People with glaucoma struggle in a different light and have issues with the dark and night.

Eye redness and Swelling

Some with glaucoma have red, swollen, and inflamed eyes.

Hence, if an individual finds any of these symptoms, he shall visit his closest glaucoma screening center or even get his eye test done with the help of his doctor.

Types of Glaucoma

Glaucoma eye disease happens in different types; each type has different causes and risk factors. Some of them are:

Primary Open Angle Glaucoma (POAG)

Primary Open Angle Glaucoma is the most common type of glaucoma. In this condition, the eye's drainage channels stay open but fail to drain out the fluid it contains. This shifts the eye pressure, damaging the optic nerve which fades the vision bit by bit as time passes on.

Angle-closure Glaucoma

In this type of glaucoma, the iris is swollen or bulged, and due to this, the liquid drains out unevenly, increasing pressure inside the eye. With this type of glaucoma, there will be a lot of pain in the eye and headache with blurry sight. This issue should be dealt with quickly.

Normal tension Glaucoma

In this type, the optic nerve of the eye is damaged without putting pressure on the eye. The reading of the intraocular nerve will be normal, but the individual eye will still experience loss of sight and optic nerve damage.

Congenital Glaucoma

This type of glaucoma is generally present in babies at birth, or it slowly happens when the child is an infant. This is caused by the abnormal development of the eye drainage system. Nowadays, doctors get it tested after birth to get the problem solved.

Secondary Glaucoma

This eye problem happens because of other health problems like swelling, pain, or medicine. It can also happen because of eye pain, diabetes, or using certain drugs.

These are the major types of glaucoma eye-sight diseases. An individual experiencing any of them should consult their doctor as soon as possible. 

Risk Factors Related to Glaucoma

Glaucoma is a network of eye diseases that are influenced by various reasons. Studying these risk factors is very important to prevent and manage the problem as early as possible. Some major risk factors for glaucoma are:

Increased Intraocular Pressure (IOP)

Glaucoma is most influenced by high IOP. People with normal or low intraocular pressure can also have the disease.

Age

Age also drastically affects glaucoma; according to the disease, increasing age can also lead to increased issues. Most individuals over the age of 60 start facing the problem.

Family History

As more close relatives have a history of glaucoma, the person has a greater risk of developing glaucoma in the future. For example, there is a greater risk of a disease if parents, children, or siblings have it.

Medical Problems

Glaucoma may be seen as a part of other general body diseases, such as diabetes, hypertension, high blood pressure, cardiovascular issues, and thyroid abnormalities, which may also be at increased risk.

Eye surgery

People who have had eye surgery have a higher chance of getting secondary glaucoma due to problems with their eye's drainage system.

Lifestyle

Glaucoma can develop because of different life factors too. It can be smoking or drinking alcohol that can make your chances greater.

Based on this, we know glaucoma is an eye disease that needs care, along with blindness and poor eyesight. To stop glaucoma issues, you need regular eye checks, good living, and eye care.

FAQs

What are the different types of Glaucoma?

Glaucoma comes in different forms; the most common ones are open-angle glaucoma, angle-closure glaucoma, normal tension glaucoma, congenital glaucoma, secondary glaucoma, and pigmentary glaucoma.

Which type of glaucoma is the most serious?

The most severe type of glaucoma is angle-closure glaucoma, which happens when eye pressure rises suddenly and needs urgent care, or can lead to vision loss.

What are the risk factors for glaucoma?

For glaucoma patients, the main risk factors are high intraocular pressure, followed by age, family history of glaucoma, other medical conditions, previous eye surgery, lifestyle factors (including diet, exercise, smoking, and alcohol), being nearsighted, and taking a high dose of corticosteroid medications.