How Do I Know I Have GLAUCOMA?
Symptoms and Signs:
Different types of glaucoma have different symptoms:
Open angle Glaucoma: usually in earlier stage of disease patient with open angle glaucoma do not have any symptoms. Patients suffering from open angle glaucoma may rarely have headaches, discomfort around the eyes. The decrease in vision starts in form of blurring of side vision, which usually goes unnoticed. As disease progresses, patient finds difficulty in crossing the road and eventually only small central “tunnel” vision. Very often there are no symptoms in early stage of disease and hence this form is also known as the silent glaucoma. The pressure in the eye is increased. The angles are open and the optic nerve is affected.
Angle closure Glaucoma: Chronic angle closure glaucoma behaves very similar to open angle glaucoma and does not have any symptoms. In acute angle closure glaucoma, during an attack of acute glaucoma, patient develops sudden blurring of vision with severe pain around the eye and throbbing headache. He may see rainbow haloes around the light. Sometimes nausea and vomiting may be present. If not treated quickly and adequately, blindness may ensue.
Congenital Glaucoma: The child is sensitive to light and tears excessively. Eyes
appear cloudy and become abnormally large in size. Vision is usually very poor. It may be associated with other congenital abnormalities in the eye or in the other organs.