Glaucoma- What you don’t know CAN hurt you.

January is glaucoma awareness month. The whole reason for trying to raise awareness is that people often don’t know they are losing vision from glaucoma until it’s too late. This disease earns the nickname, “The Silent Thief of Sight.” It’s more common over age 50, in those with circulatory diseases like diabetes and high blood pressure, and tends to run in families.

Glaucoma is a gradual, irreversible death of nerves in the retina which results in a dimming and loss of peripheral vision.  Since vision lost can’t be returned, at Rainier Eye, we test for glaucoma as part of an annual eye exam. The measurement of eye pressure is done with a quick handheld device (no puff of air for us!) and the sensitivity of peripheral vision is mapped in a machine that feels like a video game. Our doctors also examine the optic nerve, the connection between the eye and the brain, using retinal photography and/or a magnifying lens through a dilated pupil.

If your eyes look suspicious for glaucoma, we have the advanced OCT technology which measures the health of the nerves at a microscopic level. To learn more, follow this link or schedule at rainiereye.com.