If You Are A Boomer Diagnosed with Glaucoma Now What?
Glaucoma is a disease that you probably heard about that happens to the elderly. Perhaps your grandparents had it and now you just realize that it can happen to Boomers too. This disease can cause a certain amount of vision loss and even sometimes blindness. But the good news is there are numerous treatments available, it just takes some research on your part to find out what’s best for you.
There is no cure as yet for glaucoma, but the treatments, including eye drops and surgery are designed to lower pressure in your eyes so the optic nerve doesn’t get as much damage otherwise.
Signs of glaucoma can range from headaches after reading or when entering dark areas or if you see halos or experience blurry vision, you may want to talk to your doctor. Poor night vision is a sign as well as poor color awareness. Have you ever read a book and part of the word you are looking at is not there? It may be a warning sign to get a check up.
A doctor will look at several things to determine if you have glaucoma. The condition of the optic nerve and your visual field are just a few things to look at. The doc will see how you perceive motion by testing your intraocular pressure and decreased vision.
To reduce the risk of eye pressure, you can exercise about 3 days a week. Funny how exercise is like a miracle worker when it comes to our health! Did you know that caffeine may elevate eye pressure and even drinking a large amount of liquid (of any kind) within a short period of time can increase pressure?
Make sure you wear sunglasses outside. They should have high UV filters in the lenses.
As far as medications, when you are diagnosed with glaucoma and if you use eye drops, make sure you use them properly. Whatever you were prescribed make sure you do. The drops are there to use to take the pressure off the nerve and when you don’t do that, it will make your glaucoma worse. If you are having trouble getting the drops in, or your hand shakes because of arthritis or joint troubles, talk to your doctor and see what else you can do.
If you want to know more about glaucoma, you can get in touch with the Glaucoma Research Foundation or the National Eye Institute. Both organizations can provide useful information about glaucoma.
Here’s a video about glaucoma from an eye expert in the UK:
