4 Features You Should Have Checked Before Receiving A Glaucoma Diagnosis

Glaucoma can be extremely frustrating for those who are used to using their eyes to navigate the world, which is the majority of humanity. In order to reduce this frustration, it is important to make sure that the glaucoma does not do any lasting damage to your eye. In order to be treated for this disease, you need to have an accurate diagnosis. The easiest way to obtain this is to have these four features checked.

1. Pressure of the Inner Eye

The way that the doctor can check your inner eye pressure is to apply some sort of pressure to your eye and see how it reacts. The most common way to do this is for the doctor to watch your eye as he or she blows a puff of warm air onto the eye. If your eye has unnaturally high pressure, you might have glaucoma.

2. Peripheral Vision

Glaucoma tends to restrict how well you can see out of the corners of your eyes, also known as your peripheral vision. The test to check to make sure that your range of sight has not been reduced is to have a sensor placed around your head. This sensor will emit a light starting slightly off center and then continue moving to both the extreme right and the extreme left. You will tell the doctor when you can no longer see either of the lights. If you cannot see the lights before an average person would notify the doctor, then there is a high chance that you have glaucoma.

3. Optic Nerve

To get an accurate glaucoma diagnosis, your eye will also need to be checked for damage to its optic nerve. This consists of the doctor putting drops in your eyes that will make your pupil much bigger than normal, a process called dilating the eyes. When your eyes are dilated, it will be easier for the doctor to see the optic nerve more clearly.

4. Thickness of the Cornea

The cornea is one of the protective layers around your eye. The test to make sure that there are no abnormalities in the thickness of your cornea is very simply. The doctor will use a pachymeter on each of your eyes, placing it directly on the cornea. The pachymeter will then measure how thick the cornea is. If there are any abnormalities, this could have an effect on your eye pressure readings.

If you think you have glaucoma, contact a doctor at a place like North Central Eye Associates Inc right away. Getting these four features checked out will reduce the lasting damage done to your eye and make it easier to have your sight restored.


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