Glaucoma
Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that damage the optic nerve, which carries images from your eye to your brain. It is often linked to high pressure inside the eye, but it can also happen at normal eye pressure. Vision lost to glaucoma can’t be restored, but treatment can slow or stop further damage.
Glaucoma care starts with an exam
Glaucoma often causes no symptoms early on. Call to schedule an exam with our specialists.
In this Page
Why Regular Eye Exams Matter
Most glaucoma has no early warning signs. There’s no pain, and vision loss usually starts at the edges of your sight, so many people don’t notice until the damage is significant. A routine eye exam can find signs of glaucoma long before you would notice a change.
Types of Glaucoma
Your eye constantly makes a clear fluid, called aqueous humor, that drains out through a channel called the drainage angle, where the iris meets the cornea. In the two most common types of glaucoma, that drainage doesn’t work as it should.
Open-Angle Glaucoma
Open-angle glaucoma is the most common type. The drainage angle stays open, but fluid drains too slowly, like a partly clogged drain. Pressure rises gradually and damages the optic nerve. Side vision is usually affected first, and central vision may not change for years.
Angle-Closure Glaucoma
Angle-closure glaucoma happens when the iris sits too close to the drainage angle and blocks fluid from leaving, like a sheet of paper over a sink drain. It can develop slowly with no symptoms, or suddenly as an acute attack. A narrow drainage angle can often be found during a routine eye exam.
How Glaucoma Is Diagnosed
During a glaucoma evaluation, your eye doctor measures your eye pressure and examines your optic nerve. Imaging helps catch changes early and track them over time:
- Visual field testing maps your side vision to find blind spots you may not notice yet.
- Optical coherence tomography (OCT) scans the layers of the optic nerve and retina to detect thinning.
- Optic nerve photography takes detailed images of the back of the eye to compare at future visits.
Treatment
Glaucoma treatment lowers eye pressure to protect the optic nerve. Your doctor will recommend an approach based on your type of glaucoma, how far it has progressed, and your health history.
LipiFlow
- Prescription eye drops are often the first step. Most are used once or twice a day.
- Laser treatment is done in our office:
- Selective laser trabeculoplasty (SLT) uses a gentle laser to help fluid drain from the eye more easily.
- Laser peripheral iridotomy (LPI) makes a tiny opening in the iris, the colored part of your eye, giving fluid another path to drain.
OptiLight
- Medication implants are tiny devices placed inside the eye that slowly release pressure-lowering medicine. They may reduce or replace daily drops for a period of time.
- Minimally Invasive Glaucoma Surgery (MIGS) improves the eye’s natural drainage through a very small incision. Your surgeon either places a tiny stent that holds the drain open or removes a small strip of the drainage tissue through goniotomy.
- Cyclodiode laser treats the part of the eye that makes aqueous humor, reducing fluid production and eye pressure.
- Tube shunt surgery places a small drainage device in the eye. A thin tube carries fluid out to a small plate under the surface of the eye, where it’s absorbed.
- Prescription eye drops are often the first step. Most are used once or twice a day.
- Laser treatment is done in our office:
- Selective laser trabeculoplasty (SLT) uses a gentle laser to help fluid drain from the eye more easily.
- Laser peripheral iridotomy (LPI) makes a tiny opening in the iris, the colored part of your eye, giving fluid another path to drain.
- Medication implants are tiny devices placed inside the eye that slowly release pressure-lowering medicine. They may reduce or replace daily drops for a period of time.
- Minimally Invasive Glaucoma Surgery (MIGS) improves the eye’s natural drainage through a very small incision. Your surgeon either places a tiny stent that holds the drain open or removes a small strip of the drainage tissue through goniotomy.
- Cyclodiode laser treats the part of the eye that makes aqueous humor, reducing fluid production and eye pressure.
- Tube shunt surgery places a small drainage device in the eye. A thin tube carries fluid out to a small plate under the surface of the eye, where it’s absorbed.
Have questions or ready to schedule?
Call to schedule with our glaucoma specialists, for a new visit or ongoing care.
Meet Our Glaucoma Specialists
Our physicians diagnose and treat glaucoma at every stage, from early signs to in-office laser treatment and surgery, and follow patients over the long term.
Our Approach to Glaucoma Management
Glaucoma usually needs ongoing monitoring, not a single treatment. At each visit, your specialist compares new test results with earlier ones and adjusts treatment if anything has changed. Plans are based on each patient’s test results, risk factors, and daily routine, whether that means one eye drop a day, laser treatment, or surgery.
Glaucoma can run in families, and regular dilated eye exams are recommended even without symptoms.