Optometry for Glaucoma Eye Care
Glaucoma is an eye disease that causes damage to the optic nerve resulting in vision loss, and if unaddressed, can lead to complete blindness. At 20/20 Vision Place in beautiful Sunrise, we understand this condition and all that goes with it. We can help you to create a path of treatment designed to restore and maintain your vision while combating glaucoma.
Visit us today to let us help you see the beauty of the world clearly.
What Is Glaucoma?
The second leading cause of blindness in the U.S., glaucoma is a condition that involves increased pressure within the eye. This pressure, in turn, causes damage to the optic nerve by putting progressively worsening stress on it.
In addition, glaucoma causes vision loss due to damage to these nerve fibers. Severe advanced forms of this condition can even result in complete blindness.
While abnormal eye pressure is often an indication of glaucoma, it is not the only symptom. For instance, some glaucoma is developed while eye pressure is within the normal range and some people with high eye pressure never develop glaucoma. The determining factor is the optic nerve and how it reacts to the pressure within the eye.
There are several risk factors that increase the likelihood that a person will develop glaucoma. These factors include genetic predispositions such as a family history of the condition or being of African-American or Latino descent. Being female, over the age of 40, having cardiovascular disease or diabetes also puts you at greater risk for developing glaucoma.
Glaucoma has several warning signs for which you and our eye care specialists can watch. These include symptoms of the eye itself such as redness, pain, and unexplained dilation as well as vision disturbances like central and peripheral blind spots, an overall haziness, and refracted rings of light around sources of light. In addition, nausea and headaches are common with glaucoma.
Glaucoma Eye Care
Even though research into a cure for glaucoma continues to rapidly move forward, as of this time there is none. Meanwhile, we can help you to manage the condition and limit its adverse effect on your quality of life while slowing the progress of damage to your optic nerve. The goal of any glaucoma treatment is to restore vision by reducing the pressure.
With our state-of-the-art OCT retinal scanner and retinal photos we can even see early onset of glaucoma and even plan treatment based on what we find. All of which will be shown to you. This way As a practice our doctors and the patients work together in the treatment of glaucoma.
Generally, prescription eye drops are the first course of action taken when addressing early stage glaucoma. More severe cases may need the addition of supplemental medication and in its most severe state, glaucoma often may require more aggressive treatment with surgical intervention. Surgical treatments include putting a “filter/drainage” system into the eye or using a laser to relieve the pressure in the eye. And yes, in some cases both are done. To preserve ones vision for as long as we can is a goal of all of us here at 20/20 Vision Place.
You can schedule an appointment online now, call the professional caring staff of 20/20 Vision Place at (954) 851-9949, or stop by our office in Sunrise today.