Managing Glaucoma in Athens, GA
What is glaucoma?
Glaucoma is an eye disease that harms your optic nerve and causes high pressure inside your eyes and vision problems when left untreated. The earlier your eye doctor detects and treats this disease, the better your results. That’s why routine eye exams are so necessary.
What are the symptoms of glaucoma?
If you have glaucoma, you might experience the following symptoms:
- Tunnel vision
- Patchy blind spots
- Eye pain
- Nausea or vomiting
- Severe headaches
- Blurry vision
- Eye redness
- Seeing halos around lights
Glaucoma can eventually cause blindness if it’s not promptly treated. See Dr. Gadlin at the first sign of eye pain or vision changes.
What are the risk factors for glaucoma?
While anyone can develop glaucoma, the common causes and risk factors include:
- Elevated eye pressure
- Fluid buildup in your eyes
- Family history of glaucoma
- Being Latin American, Black, or Asian
- Being over 60
- Diabetes
- High blood pressure
- Heart disease
- Sickle cell anemia
- Nearsightedness
- Farsightedness
- Thin corneas
- Eye injuries
- Past eye surgery
- Long-term use of some eye drops
While you can’t always prevent glaucoma, ways to reduce your risk include:
- Getting regular exercise
- Eating nutritious foods
- Wearing eye protection when needed
- Using eye drops only as directed by a doctor
See Dr. Gadlin for routine exams to detect eye diseases in their early stages.
How does my eye doctor diagnose glaucoma?
To diagnose glaucoma and develop a treatment plan, Dr. Gadlin asks about your eye health history, lifestyle habits, and symptoms. He completes a dilated eye exam along with vision testing. Eye tests measure the pressure in your eyes. Dr. Gadlin uses imaging tests to look for optic nerve damage and measures your corneal thickness.
How is glaucoma treated?
Your personalized glaucoma treatment can include making healthy lifestyle changes, taking oral medicines, and using prescription eye drops. You might need minimally invasive glaucoma surgery or laser treatment.
The experts at Athens Eye Consultants use the latest technology to monitor the progression of eye disease, including wide field imaging, spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SDOCT), and automated perimetry.
If you need surgery, follow your surgeon’s instructions before and after surgery and arrange to have a family member or friend drive you home afterward.
Schedule an eye exam at Athens Eye Consultants by phone or book one online today to be screened for glaucoma and learn if you need treatment.