January is Glaucoma Awareness Month.

Glaucoma is commonly called the Silent Thief of Sight because there are often no early symptoms, meaning many people do not know they have it until it is too late. Experts estimate at least half of people with glaucoma do not know they have it. Regular dilated eye exams are essential in preventing the vision loss that comes from untreated glaucoma.

What is Glaucoma?

Glaucoma is a group of diseases that cause fluid levels in the eye to rise. Left untreated, this can lead to vision loss after the optic nerve is damaged from increased intraocular pressure (IOP).

The two main types of glaucoma are primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) and angle-closure glaucoma. POAG is the most common type of glaucoma and happens gradually. When the eye does not drain fluid as it should, eye pressure builds and starts to damage the optic nerve.

Acute angle-closure glaucoma occurs rapidly with symptoms such as sudden vision loss, headaches, nausea, eye or brown aches, and more. Chronic angle-closure glaucoma develops slowly and without symptoms at first until the damage is severe or there is an attack.

How is Glaucoma treated?

Glaucoma can be managed with medication such as eye drops. If the glaucoma is severe enough or eye drops are not working, there are lasers and surgical methods that can be utilized to create drainage of the fluid in the eye.
Some methods include:

• iStent – a tiny implant that can be inserted at the time of cataract surgery to lower intraocular pressure
• Selective laser trabeculoplasty (SLT)
• Gonioplasty – in-office laser procedure which is intended to deepen the anterior chamber angle and can be used as an adjunct for patients who have persistently narrow angles after laser iridotomy or plateau iris
• and more.

Arena Eye Surgeons’ glaucoma specialists, Dr. Karl Pappa and Dr. Wendy Kirkland, have many new and innovative tools and techniques used to treat your glaucoma. Give us a call today at 614-228-4500 (Columbus) or 740-368-5500 (Delaware) to schedule your dilated eye exam!