Glaucoma
Glaucoma is the silent thief of vision. Primary Open Angle Glaucoma usually does not cause eye pain and slowly kills your vision cells in a way that most patients does not notice until the disease is in its later stages. Glaucoma does damage to the optic nerve and the visual cells that make up the optic nerve (nerve fiber layer). This damage may start to cause the patient to have reduced peripheral vision and poor night vision.
Your comprehensive eye examination at TMS Eyecare will include testing for glaucoma. This examination will include a screening visual field test that checks peripheral and central vision loss, an intraocular pressure test, and optic nerve evaluation. If the doctor believes you may be a glaucoma suspect he/she will run a few diagnostic tests to confirm or rule out the diagnoses of glaucoma.
Some of these diagnostic tests include Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) -a non-invasive diagnostic instrument used for imaging the optic nerve fiber layer. The OCT uses an array of light to rapidly scan the eye. This digital scan will show if there is early damage to your optic nerve. This technology is known to pick up glaucoma earlier than standard Visual Field testing.
We also check corneal thickness with pachymetry, this instrument gives the doctor a more accurate reading of your true eye pressure. Sometimes elevated eye pressure is caused by a narrow drainage angle. Gonioscopy is a procedure to make sure the angle structures inside the eye are open and allowing fluid to drain out properly. A closed drainage angle can lead to narrow-angle glaucoma and sudden vision loss.
TMS Eyecare has made it our mission to have the latest technology available to diagnose eye diseases like glaucoma, diabetes and macular degeneration, three of the leading causes of vision loss.
Glaucoma is an eye disease that can be diagnosed with a routine eye examination and many times a patient may have no symptoms and see 20/20. That is why it is important to get your eyes tested on a regular basis even if you feel you see well.
