As a leading cause of blindness among Americans, glaucoma is a condition not to be taken lightly. By better understanding this disease and its impact on the health of the eyes, we can encourage early detection to reduce vision loss.
Important facts to understand about glaucoma include:
- Glaucoma is a family of diseases involving the optic nerve, which is the nerve connecting the eye to the brain.
- Around 3 million Americans have been diagnosed with glaucoma.
- Glaucoma is often caused by increased pressure in the eye due to a disconnect between the amount of fluid produced by the eye and fluid drainage.
- The following are risk factors for glaucoma:
- Age over 40
- High blood pressure
- Diabetes
- Family history of glaucoma
- African American, Hispanic, or Asian descent
- The earliest signs of glaucoma can be seen by looking at the optic nerve for optic nerve cupping during a dilated eye exam. This change can be recognized by your eye doctor years before vision loss occurs, allowing for early intervention and the prevention of irreversible eye damage.
- Glaucoma doesn’t cause symptoms until permanent damage to the eye occurs, and the early stages of glaucoma compromise peripheral vision.
- If glaucoma isn’t treated, it can lead to complete blindness.
Treatment for Glaucoma
Glaucoma treatment typically involves eye drops to lower the pressure of the eye. Glaucoma laser surgery may also be administered to improve eye fluid drainage or traditional glaucoma surgery to remove fluid from the eye to lower the pressure.
The downside to being on Glaucoma drops, is that it can often cause droopy lids, redness and loss of fat around your eyes. If you’re on drops for glaucoma, think XEN®!
In 2020, The Eye Clinic of Florida led the nation in XEN® Gel implants for glaucoma. Over the last 3 years, we’ve incorporated 3 surgical refinements that dramatically improved results from standard XEN® surgery. It’s now the preferred technique of many surgeons around the country.
With our XEN® Gel Stent procedure:
- Pressures are most often better off medicine than on medicine after surgery.
- Patients can see immediately afterwards and don’t need a patch or shield.
- Glaucoma medicines are stopped.
- Only 1 medication drop is used for a few weeks operatively.
The sole way to identify glaucoma early, before vision loss occurs, is to attend regular eye exams.
In addition to offering eye exams for early detection of glaucoma, The Eye Clinic of Florida provides glaucoma treatment and laser surgery services from board-certified Tampa eye doctors. Contact us today at 813-779-3338 to learn more.