Types of Glaucoma
Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma
This is the most common type of glaucoma; it occurs progressively and is generally painless. It happens when your eye doesn’t drain its nutritional fluids as effectively as it should. These leftover fluids can build up and increase your intraocular pressure.
High intraocular pressure often doesn’t cause any changes to your vision at first. But as this pressure keeps building, it can start to slowly damage your optic nerve. This damage can cause blind spots and loss of peripheral vision.
Closed-Angle Glaucoma
Your eye naturally contains a fluid called aqueous humor. This fluid has to be drained by a structure in your eye called the trabecular meshwork. This structure sits between the iris and the cornea and requires clear drainage angles to function correctly.
But if the drainage angles start to close, the aqueous humor can’t be drained. This leads to a sudden and rapid increase in pressure that can cause:
- Blurry Vision
- Headaches
- Nausea
- Severe eye pain
- Halos appearing around lights
This is a medical emergency that requires immediate action. Please contact us if you experience any of these symptoms.
