Glaucoma Specialist Near Me

How much do you know about glaucoma? In the early stages of the disease, there are no symptoms and no pain, therefore regular eye exams are important because this is the only way to detect the disease. Read below for symptoms, risk factors and treatment. If you are thinking, “I need a glaucoma specialist near me”, look no further than Eye Consultants of Pennsylvania.

Symptoms

In the early stages, glaucoma generally is asymptomatic. but as the disease gradually progresses, you may have the following symptoms:

• General vision loss
• Peripheral (side vision) loss
• Tunnel vision
• Halos around lights, especially at night
• Glare in bright light
• Eye redness
• Eye pain

What is Glaucoma

Glaucoma is a chronic disease caused by fluid buildup inside the eye. The normal and healthy fluid flow in the eye’s drainage system stops working and fluid builds up. As the fluid builds up, the eye’s internal pressure increases and over time, the high pressure damages the optic nerve. That damage can cause vision loss.

Glaucoma typically starts in one eye first, but usually does eventually occur in both eyes. The disease is very gradual and occurs over many years, which is why it is so hard to detect. People with glaucoma usually notice a change in peripheral vision as the first symptom. After a while, the central vision is also affected.

Risk Factors

Certain people are more at risk:

• Adults over age 60
• Hispanic descent
• African descent
• People with a family history of glaucoma

With approximately 3 million annual US cases, glaucoma is much more common than most people realize. If you fit one or more of these above categories, you may be high risk, so it is important that you come in for an annual eye exam. You will see one of our board-certified, fellowship-trained ophthalmologists who specialize in glaucoma. Many of our patients don’t even know they have glaucoma, and sometimes, significant damage has unfortunately already occurred.

Treatments

Early on, our physicians can start treatment by prescribing eye drops designed to lower the internal eye pressure. This will minimize optic nerve damage. If glaucoma is already moderate or above, you may need to take oral medications that are also designed to lower internal eye pressure.

Sometimes, these remedies do not sufficiently reduce the pressure, so surgery is needed. There are several different surgical procedures, and we most commonly perform selective laser trabeculoplasty (SLT) for primary open-angle glaucoma, which is the most frequently occurring form of glaucoma. During this laser surgery, the surgeon will create openings in the eye’s drainage passageway (called the trabecular meshwork). The openings allow the built up fluid to drain, thus lowering the internal eye pressure. The SLT surgery is a quick and effective procedure done as an outpatient surgery.

If you are concerned about glaucoma, don’t wait. Make an appointment today at one of our five convenient Eye Consultants of Pennsylvania locations. Our excellent team will perform a comprehensive exam, and if you do have glaucoma, we will design a customized treatment plan to slow the progression. Visit our website or call 1-800-762-7132 today.