Glaucoma Specialist in Lebanon, PA
Voted Best of Berks—
eight years in a row!
Glaucoma can cause damage to the optic nerve and is a leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide. If diagnosed and treated early by a glaucoma specialist at Eye Consultants of Pennsylvania in Lebanon, PA, vision loss can be prevented.
Eye Consultants of Pennsylvania is the leading ophthalmology practice in Berks, Lancaster, Lebanon, Montgomery and Schuylkill counties. Our board certified and fellowship-trained ophthalmologists have vast experience in all current glaucoma treatments and surgical procedures and have helped thousands of people minimize the irreversible effects of the disease.
What is Glaucoma?
Glaucoma is a painless disease, often called the “silent thief of sight” because many patients don’t know they have it until significant vision has been permanently lost.
Your optic nerve is the part of your eye that is responsible for transmitting images from the eye to your brain to help it make sense of the images. When you experience optic nerve damage from glaucoma, your eyesight can be severely diminished. Most of the time, the nerve damage comes from high pressure inside the eye which is caused by a backup of fluid.
The eye constantly produces a clear fluid (called aqueous humor) that circulates through drainage canals in the front of the eye near the iris and is necessary for the health of the eye.
When something goes wrong with the drainage canal and the fluid is unable to escape from the eye as fast as it is produced, pressure on the optic nerve begins to build. This condition is known as glaucoma. If left untreated, permanent vision loss can occur.
Two of the most common forms of glaucoma are primary open-angle glaucoma and angle-closure glaucoma.
In most cases, treatment is centered on relieving pressure on the optic nerve. Eye Consultants of Pennsylvania offers medical treatment (eye drops and pills), conventional surgery and laser surgery solutions for the treatment of glaucoma.
Are You at Risk for Glaucoma?
Everyone is at risk for glaucoma, including babies; however, according to the Glaucoma Research Foundation, the risk is greater for some individuals:
- Older individuals: Although glaucoma can affect people at any age, it occurs more frequently as we get older. Everyone over the age of 40 should have a comprehensive dilated eye examination at least every two years to detect the disease.
- People of African, Hispanic or Asian descent: People with African and Hispanic heritage are more prone to developing open-angle glaucoma than people of other ethnic groups. People of Asian descent have a greater tendency for developing angle-closure glaucoma and normal-tension glaucoma.
- Individuals who have:
- Diabetes
- Extremely high or low blood pressure
- Long-term steroid use for severe asthma control
- Blunt trauma or penetrating eye injury
- Glaucoma history in your family: Research has indicated that open-angle glaucoma, the most common form of the disease, may be hereditary. Although you may not ever develop glaucoma, you are at a greater risk if members of your family have had it.
Don’t wait for symptoms to occur before a glaucoma specialist in Lebanon, PA, such as Eye Consultants of Pennsylvania. Early diagnosis and treatment can minimize loss of vision before the glaucoma becomes too advanced.
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Call 800-762-7132 or make an appointment online.