How Will I Know If I Have Glaucoma?
Glaucoma is a serious eye condition that can eventually cause blindness. Glaucoma treatment can control the condition and slow the onset of symptoms. Everyone is at risk for glaucoma, although some people are at higher risk than others. You can protect yourself from blindness related to glaucoma by seeing your eye doctor in Columbia, MD, and in the surrounding area.
What Is Glaucoma?
Glaucoma is a condition that damages the optic nerve in the eye, usually due to a buildup of pressure in the eye. Glaucoma can cause permanent vision loss or blindness, if left untreated for long enough.
Are There Symptoms of Glaucoma?
The unfortunate thing about glaucoma is that it often has no symptoms in the early stages. Many people don’t know they have glaucoma until they’ve experienced some vision loss and have gone to the eye doctor.
The only person who can tell if you have glaucoma during these early stages is the eye doctor. Your eye doctor can determine whether you have glaucoma by performing an eye exam.
Eye exams that detect glaucoma are not like standard eye exams for vision clarity. In fact, your eye doctor must be able to see into your eye in order to determine whether you have glaucoma.
To do this, your eye doctor will dilate your eyes. When this happens, the doctor will put drops in your eyes to dilate the pupils. Your vision will become blurry and you’ll become temporarily sensitive to light. When the dilation wears off, your vision will return to normal.
Get an Eye Exam
If you’ve never had a vision exam to test for glaucoma, now is the time. This is especially important if you’re over 60 years old, have diabetes, or if you’re in some other way at risk for glaucoma. To determine your risk for this condition, see the eye doctor. Your eye doctor at Dr. Jan Eye Care can let you know whether you’re at risk for glaucoma and what you can do to protect yourself.
Call today to make an appointment for an eye exam in Columbia, MD, or to find out more about glaucoma treatment.
