What is the first sign of glaucoma?

Glaucoma is found among several million people in the United States alone. It’s a complex disease that damages the optic nerve, leading to progressive and irreversible vision loss. It’s also currently the second-leading cause of blindness.

To better understand glaucoma, its causes, and its symptoms, let’s discuss the different types.

Types of glaucoma

Glaucoma is essentially a group of diseases, with the most common type being hereditary. The four main types of glaucoma are:

• Open-Angle Glaucoma
• Angle-Closure Glaucoma
• Normal-Tension Glaucoma
• Congenital Glaucoma

Open-angle glaucoma is the most common type, accounting for at least 90% of glaucoma cases.

What causes glaucoma?

Glaucoma can affect both adults and children, but the condition is more common with age. Many risk factors can play a role in causing the development of glaucoma, including:

• Elevated eye pressure
• Age
• Family history
• Eye injury
• Diabetes
• Farsightedness
• Nearsightedness

Symptoms of glaucoma

There are typically no early warning signs for glaucoma. Instead, it gradually develops over many years. This means that most people who suffer from the disease only seek treatment when they notice sudden vision loss—when significant damage has already occurred. This is why we recommend that you routinely visit your eye doctor to stay on top of your vision and eye health.

If your glaucoma has been developing over some time, you may experience symptoms aside from vision loss, including:

• Light sensitivity
• High eye pressure
• Cloudy vision
• Frequent headaches
• Tunnel vision

Everyone is at risk for glaucoma. Because there are no early warning signs, it can be difficult to know if you have glaucoma until it becomes severe. Routinely visiting your eye doctor can help you stay on top of your eye health. If you have any questions or need to schedule an appointment, reach out to Oklahoma City Vision so we can get you taken care of.