Glaucoma: Meaning, Diagnosis and Overview

• Depending on the type and treatment followed, recovery time varies.
• If the conventional surgery is followed then it may take more than a week.
• If it is laser surgery then the individual may return to their normal activities the next day after the surgery.

• Measuring intraocular pressure (Tonometry)
• Visual field testing
• Pachymetry (measuring cornea thickness)
• Gonioscopy
• Ophthalmoscopy

If your blood pressure raises your eye pressure might go up immediately. Then your eye would compensate for this and return your eye pressure to its usual level (homeostasis). However, increased blood pressure over a longer period of time could lead to decreased circulation to your eye which would be detrimental to the glaucoma.

Progressive loss of the optic nerve fibers leads eventually to progressive loss of visual field and finally to complete loss or blindness. However, in most forms of glaucoma, a patient will not experience any symptoms until late in the disease. Early peripheral visual field loss is not noticeable to the patient, and its slow progression makes its recognition nearly impossible without special testing. Loss of the peripheral nasal visual field generally occurs first in glaucoma. Following the progressive change and course of these visual field defects becomes the most critical aspect of managing the glaucoma patient.

Unfortunately, any vision loss as a result of glaucoma is usually permanent and cannot be restored. If diagnosed at an early stage, glaucoma can often be controlled and little or no further vision loss may occur. If left untreated, first peripheral vision and then central vision will be affected and blindness may result. This is why regular preventive eye examinations are so important.

Not necessarily. Not every person with increased eye pressure will develop glaucoma. Some people can tolerate higher eye pressure better than others. Also, a certain level of eye pressure may be high for one person but normal for another.

Yes. Glaucoma can develop without increased eye pressure. This form of glaucoma is called low-tension or normal-tension glaucoma. It is not as common as open-angle glaucoma.