Glaucoma

Glaucoma causes irreversible optic nerve damage that could result in partial or complete sight loss. At Dallas Glaucoma Specialists in Allen, Texas, Arun Joseph, MD, and his expert colleagues offer specialized treatment for patients with glaucoma. They use the most advanced, innovative therapies, including laser treatments and microinvasive glaucoma surgery (MIGS), to preserve your sight. Call Dallas Glaucoma Specialists or book an appointment online today for superior glaucoma treatment. 

What is glaucoma?

Glaucoma damages your eye’s optic nerve. It typically occurs when excess fluid builds up in the front of your eye, increasing pressure in the eyeball and compressing the optic nerve.

Eyes continually make a fluid called aqueous humor. Older aqueous should flow out of your eye through its drainage angle at the same rate fresh aqueous flows into it. This maintains a stable intraocular pressure (IOP) in the eye. However, aqueous can build up if the drainage angle doesn’t work properly, increasing the IOP.

Raised IOP squeezes the optic nerve, which consists of over a million tiny nerve fibers. The pressure kills some nerve fibers, causing blind spots, but you might not notice these at first. If all the optic nerve fibers die, you lose your sight completely.

Glaucoma is a primary cause of sight loss in people over age 60, but it is often preventable with early treatment.

Are there different types of glaucoma?

The main types of glaucoma are open-angle and closed-angle (also known as angle-closure or narrow-angle glaucoma).

Open-angle glaucoma

Open-angle is the most common glaucoma. It develops gradually when fluid passes too slowly through the drainage angle and is typically painless.

Angle-closure glaucoma

Angle-closure glaucoma affects people whose iris (the colored part of the eye) is too close to the drainage angle. If the iris blocks the drainage angle completely, eye pressure increases very quickly, causing an acute attack. This is an emergency requiring immediate treatment to prevent blindness.

Acute angle-closure glaucoma attack symptoms include:

• Suddenly blurry vision
• Severe eye pain
• Headache
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Seeing rainbow-colored halos or rings around lights

Chronic angle-closure glaucoma develops more slowly, causing no symptoms at first. Like open-angle glaucoma, you won’t know you have it until you suffer severe optic nerve damage and irreversible sight loss. However, regular eye health checkups at Dallas Glaucoma Specialists ensure you get treatment at the first sign of glaucoma.

How is glaucoma treated?

Dallas Glaucoma Specialists offers the most extensive range of cutting-edge treatments, including MIGS. Options include:

• Medicated eye drops
• Laser trabeculoplasty
• Laser iridotomy
• Surgical trabeculectomy
• Goniotomy
• XEN gel stent implantation
• Ahmed® ClearPath™ and Molteno3® tube shunt implantation

Glaucoma damage is irreversible — you can’t regain lost sight caused by glaucoma. However, proper treatment and eye surgery (where necessary) prevent further optic nerve damage and preserve your remaining vision.

Call Dallas Glaucoma Specialists or book an appointment online today to arrange a glaucoma screening or benefit from expert treatment.