Glaucoma (glaw-ko-ma) is a group of disorders that cause fluid pressure to rise inside the eye, which may result in vision loss.


Except for the rare cases of acute glaucoma that develop suddenly, most people do not realize they have glaucoma. As pressure is building in the eye, many of the millions of nerve cells at the rear of the eye are destroyed. The nerves that die first affect peripheral (pe-rif-er-al) vision, or how well people see out of the sides of the eyes. When the loss of vision becomes severe enough for a person to notice, the damage is so great that little can be done.


The best way to diagnose glaucoma is through an eye exam that uses an instrument called a tonometer (to-nom-e-ter) to measure the pressure in the eye. One type of tonometer registers eye pressure by lightly touching the eye's surface. Eyedrops are used to make this procedure painless. Another tonometer uses a puff of air to measure eye pressure. The doctor or eye specialist (ophthalmologist or optometrist) also may use a scope that shines light in the eye to look for damage to the optic nerve, lastly a transpalpebral tonometry measures intraocular pressure through
the eyelid. It is regarded as a simple and safe method of
ophthalmotonometry. Transpalpebral tonometry requires no contact with

the cornea, therefore sterilization of the device and topical anesthetic drops are not required and there is very little risk of infection. Peripheral vision can be checked as part of the eye exam.



So - ask your doctor about the eye test!
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