Healthy Vision Month, Tip of the day #4 - Glaucoma - early detection is key to saving your vision.

May is Healthy Vision Month... Tip of the day #4 - Early detection of glaucoma.  Glaucoma is a condition that becomes more prevalent as we age.  The disease itself is a loss of nerve tissue in the back of the eye that cannot be replaced. 
Any vision loss that a patient has from glaucoma is permanent so it is very important to detect glaucoma early before a patient has vision symptoms.  Some patients have a misconception that glaucoma is increased intraocular pressure; but this is just a risk for glaucoma.  Glaucoma is damage to the optic nerve coming from the brain. 

The only way to detect glaucoma early is to be having regular eye exams.
This involves having the eye pressure checked, the optic nerve head in the back
of the eye examined, and a peripheral visual field test.  With this type of testing, patients with early glaucoma damage or those who have risk factors for glaucoma can be detected and then properly managed to prevent glaucoma from causing permanent vision loss. The Healthy Vision Institute houses the latest in technology for early detection. Do not delay - call today to schedule an eye exam today to protect your vision. 727-738-5900