Your eyes constantly produce fluids to maintain intraocular pressure (IOP). When you have glaucoma, however, these fluids fail to drain properly. Over time, this may lead an increase in IOP, optic nerve damage, and, possibly, blindness. In today’s post, your trusted eye doctor from Park Slope Eye explains what happens inside your eyes when you develop this condition.
How Glaucoma Affects Your Vision
Imagine that your eye is a sink. Upon turning on the faucet, water flows into the drain and through the pipes. In an eye with glaucoma, the drain is clogged. Although water flows smoothly into the “sink,” structural irregularities or obstructions prevent it from draining out. Eventually, this leads to an increase in pressure in the “pipes”—or the optic nerve in your eyes. Left untreated, glaucoma will damage the optic nerve and can even cause blindness.
Causes, Types, and Symptoms
Your eye fluids normally empty through a mesh channel located in the angle between your cornea and iris. In narrow-angle or close glaucoma, this angle becomes restricted due to structural problems. With wide-angle or open-angle glaucoma, the mesh network becomes ineffective at draining your eye fluids for unspecified reasons.
Glaucoma is usually asymptomatic in the early stages, but once it progresses you may experience blurred vision, headaches, and eye fatigue. You may also report seeing tunnel vision or halos around lights. If you experience any of these symptoms, visit our eye specialists immediately so we can provide prompt eye care.
Our Recommended Treatment
We may prescribe applying eye drops to lower your IOP as part of your initial treatment. If symptoms persist and your IOP remains uncontrolled, we may advise undergoing microsurgery or laser trabeculoplasty. Our expert eye doctors will explain our suggested management in detail for your understanding. We’ll take the time to answer all your questions for your peace of mind.
Turn to Park Slope Eye for reliable family eye care. Call us today at (347) 380-7070 or fill out our form so we can check your eyes for any signs of glaucoma or other vision problems. You may also send us a message to schedule a visit. We serve various NY communities, including Park Slope and Brooklyn.
