January is Glaucoma Awareness Month. Learn the warning signs and what they mean for you.
Glaucoma, sometimes referred to as the “silent thief of sight,” is one of the leading causes of blindness in people over 60. The name “glaucoma” refers to a group of eye conditions that are associated with higher pressure inside the eye, and which cause damage to the optic nerve, the system which sends information from your eye to your brain.
The “silent thief” nickname comes from the fact that often, glaucoma doesn’t have obvious symptoms in its early stages. For many people, this means the first thing they notice is vision loss that’s unfortunately already permanent. That’s what makes regular eye exams such a critical part of preventing the damage that glaucoma can cause.
The way glaucoma works still isn’t fully understood, so there aren’t many specific strategies for preventing it, and there isn’t currently a cure. However, there are things you can do to monitor your health and protect your vision. In this article, we’ll talk about the types of glaucoma that exist, the warning signs you can look for, and how you can keep your vision at its best into the future.
Glaucoma often doesn’t have early symptoms—but sudden vision changes can indicate an emergency.
Rather than just one condition, “glaucoma” is a group of eye health conditions that share some common characteristics and risk factors. The most significant of these is increased intraocular pressure, or the pressure of the fluid inside your eye. This pressure increase can have several different causes, and researchers have multiple theories on how it can cause damage to your optic nerve.
The most common type of glaucoma is primary open-angle glaucoma. With this type, fluid drains more slowly from your eye, and the damage builds up slowly. Early on, symptoms are nonexistent or very minor, and they worsen gradually, making them hard to notice. Primary angle-closure glaucoma, on the other hand, is a medical emergency, and symptoms are often obvious and painful. Other types of glaucoma involve the pigment in your eye (pigmentary glaucoma), are caused by injuries or medications (secondary glaucoma), or appear at birth or early childhood.
The symptoms for each type are slightly different, or might appear in different ways and at different times. Here’s what you should be on the lookout for.
1. High intraocular pressure
More of a risk factor than a symptom, intraocular pressure is not something you’ll notice on your own, but your care provider can easily check this with a painless test at a routine eye exam. Rarely, glaucoma can occur in people who don’t have elevated pressure inside their eyes, called normal-tension glaucoma, but the large majority of cases also show raised intraocular pressure.
2. Pain
Only about one in ten cases of glaucoma is the angle-closure type, but its symptoms appear quickly and, if left untreated, can swiftly result in permanent vision loss. Severe eye pain or headache is one of the most noticeable symptoms of angle-closure glaucoma. Often, the pain is severe enough to cause nausea or vomiting, and comes with extreme sensitivity to light. If you experience this kind of pain, seek out emergency care immediately.
3. Seeing rings or “halos”
Angle-closure glaucoma and pigmentary glaucoma can cause blurry vision, including a specific type of blurriness that makes it look like light sources have rainbow-colored rings, or halos, around them.
Halos from angle-closure glaucoma are usually constant. Pigmentary glaucoma, on the other hand, is caused by flakes of color from your iris (the colored part of your eye) that have come loose, and these can be shaken up (like a snow globe) by athletic activity like jogging. If halos only appear after physical activity, they may be caused by pigmentary glaucoma.
4. Cloudy eyes
Sometimes, glaucoma can appear spontaneously in newborns or very young children. In these cases, your child’s eyes may appear cloudy or dull, along with other symptoms of irritation like:
- Excess tearing
- Rubbing eyes
- Squinting or closing eyes
- Excess blinking
- Sensitivity to light
- Headache
- Blurry or worsening vision
5. Peripheral vision loss
Usually, vision loss doesn’t start to happen until the later stages of glaucoma. When it does start, however, it begins at the edges of your vision (the periphery) and works its way in. If you notice blurriness, blind spots around the edges of your vision, or tunnel vision, you may have open-angle glaucoma that is progressing into later stages—which means it’s time for an eye exam.
Reducing glaucoma’s risks means taking care of your whole-body health.
It’s tricky to talk about “prevention” with a disease like glaucoma. Many of the risk factors are things we can’t change, like age, family history, or race. But because eye health is so closely interconnected with the health of our whole body, by taking care of our health overall, we can help reduce the risks associated with glaucoma too. Here are a few important steps you can take.
1. Get your regular eye exam.
Because glaucoma often doesn’t show symptoms in its early stages, regular eye exams are essential to identifying the disease early, before it has a chance to cause permanent damage. If your provider spots high intraocular pressure or other signs, the two of you can work together to manage the progression of the condition and preserve your vision as much as possible.
2. Know your risks.
Be aware of your risk factors for glaucoma, and use that information to guide your health choices. Risk factors for glaucoma include:
- Age (the risk increases as you get older)
- Refractive error (being nearsighted or farsighted)
- A family history of glaucoma
- Certain whole-body health conditions including diabetes, high blood pressure, and migraines
- A previous eye injury
- Smoking
- African, Latino, or Asian heritage
- Long-term, regular use of steroid medications
These risk factors stack up. If you’re facing more than one, be sure to discuss them with your provider, and manage or eliminate ones you can control.
3. Use protective eyewear.
Having an eye injury is a risk factor for developing glaucoma, in both the short and long term. Injury to the eye can affect how fluids drain from it and cause the elevated intraocular pressure that so often goes hand-in-hand with glaucoma. If your work, your sport, or your hobby involves risks to your eyes like projectiles, dust, or debris, be sure you’re wearing the right protective gear correctly and consistently.
4. Take care of your whole-body health.
The risk of glaucoma goes up when you experience other health issues as well. A varied, eye-healthy diet and regular exercise are good for your overall well-being, and those health benefits pass to your eyes too. Properly managing conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure and cutting out smoking all help you minimize any extra risk to your vision.
5. Take your eye drops as directed.
If you and your care provider do identify high intraocular pressure or the early stages of glaucoma, one of the first treatment options may be medicated eye drops. If your provider prescribes drops, be sure to stick to your schedule and follow your provider’s directions. Proper use of your medication can slow or even stop the progression of glaucoma.
Heritage’s mission is connecting you with the care you need.
At Heritage, we’ve seen firsthand how important it is to have high-quality vision care—and we believe that everyone deserves access to a trusted provider. If you’re concerned about your eye health or just ready to commit to eye exams in this new year, let us help.
Find one of our handpicked network of providers near you with our Provider Search tool, or get access to care with a Heritage individual or family plan. We can never know for sure what the future holds for our health, but with Heritage, you have a powerful ally in your corner.