High Eye Pressure and Glaucoma

Eye pressure is ... DonateNow Search Genericfilters FilterbyCategories Hiddenlabel EyeHealth Hiddenlabel PersonalStories Hiddenlabel Facts&Stats Hiddenlabel LifestyleTips Hiddenlabel EyeExams Hiddenlabel Treatments Hiddenlabel Q&A Hiddenlabel ResearchUpdates Hiddenlabel News LearnaboutGlaucoma WhatisGlaucoma? TypesofGlaucoma TestingforGlaucoma TreatingGlaucoma PatientResources VideosandWebinars Research CatalystforaCure ShafferResearchGrants ApplyforaGrant PublicationsandAbstracts VideosandWebinars GetInvolved WaystoGive FundraiseforGRF Volunteer PlannedGiving Events Glaucoma360 AnnualGala NewHorizonsForum PatientSummit Webinars GRFBlog News ResearchUpdates PersonalStories EnEspañol More… AboutUs Mission&History People GRFAmbassadors Financials Menu LearnaboutGlaucoma WhatisGlaucoma? TypesofGlaucoma TestingforGlaucoma TreatingGlaucoma PatientResources VideosandWebinars Research CatalystforaCure ShafferResearchGrants ApplyforaGrant PublicationsandAbstracts VideosandWebinars GetInvolved WaystoGive FundraiseforGRF Volunteer PlannedGiving Events Glaucoma360 AnnualGala NewHorizonsForum PatientSummit Webinars GRFBlog News ResearchUpdates PersonalStories EnEspañol More… AboutUs Mission&History People GRFAmbassadors Financials Donate Search Genericfilters FilterbyCategories Hiddenlabel EyeHealth Hiddenlabel PersonalStories Hiddenlabel Facts&Stats Hiddenlabel LifestyleTips Hiddenlabel EyeExams Hiddenlabel Treatments Hiddenlabel Q&A Hiddenlabel ResearchUpdates Hiddenlabel News Donate LearnaboutGlaucoma WhatisGlaucoma? TypesofGlaucoma TestingforGlaucoma TreatingGlaucoma PatientResources VideosandWebinars Research CatalystforaCure ShafferResearchGrants ApplyforaGrant PublicationsandAbstracts VideosandWebinars GetInvolved WaystoGive FundraiseforGRF Volunteer PlannedGiving Events Glaucoma360 AnnualGala NewHorizonsForum PatientSummit Webinars GRFBlog News ResearchUpdates PersonalStories EnEspañol More… AboutUs Mission&History People GRFAmbassadors Financials Menu LearnaboutGlaucoma WhatisGlaucoma? TypesofGlaucoma TestingforGlaucoma TreatingGlaucoma PatientResources VideosandWebinars Research CatalystforaCure ShafferResearchGrants ApplyforaGrant PublicationsandAbstracts VideosandWebinars GetInvolved WaystoGive FundraiseforGRF Volunteer PlannedGiving Events Glaucoma360 AnnualGala NewHorizonsForum PatientSummit Webinars GRFBlog News ResearchUpdates PersonalStories EnEspañol More… AboutUs Mission&History People GRFAmbassadors Financials Q&A,EyeExams HighEyePressureandGlaucoma Q:I'veheardthatglaucomaiscausedbyhigheyepressure,andthatleftuntreatedglaucomacancauseblindness.AtwhatpressurewillIgoblind? BACKTOBLOGHOME Q&A,EyeExams HighEyePressureandGlaucoma Q:I'veheardthatglaucomaiscausedbyhigheyepressure,andthatleftuntreatedglaucomacancauseblindness.AtwhatpressurewillIgoblind? BACKTOBLOGHOME Glaucomaisamulti-factorial,complexeyediseasewithspecificcharacteristicssuchasopticnervedamageandvisualfieldloss.Whileincreasedpressureinsidetheeye(calledintraocularpressureor IOP)isusuallypresent,evenpatientswithnormalrange IOP candevelopglaucoma. Thereisnospecificlevelofelevatedeyepressurethatdefinitelyleadstoglaucoma;conversely,thereisnolowerlevelof IOP thatwillabsolutelyeliminateaperson’sriskofdevelopingglaucoma.Thatiswhyearlydiagnosisandtreatmentofglaucomaisthekeytopreventingvisionloss. MeasuringEyePressure Eyepressureismeasuredinmillimetersofmercury(mmHg).Normaleyepressurerangesfrom12-22mmHg,andeyepressureofgreaterthan22mmHgisconsideredhigherthannormal.Whenthe IOP ishigherthannormalbutthepersondoesnotshowsignsofglaucoma,thisisreferredtoasocularhypertension. Higheyepressurealonedoesnotcauseglaucoma.However,itisasignificantriskfactor.Individualsdiagnosedwithhigheyepressureshouldhaveregularcomprehensiveeyeexaminationsbyaneyecareprofessionaltocheckforsignsoftheonsetofglaucoma. Elevated IOP Apersonwithelevated IOP isreferredtoasaglaucoma suspect,becauseoftheconcernthattheelevatedeyepressuremightleadtoglaucoma.Thetermglaucoma suspect isalsousedtodescribethosewhohaveotherfindingsthatcouldpotentially,noworinthefuture,indicateglaucoma.Forexample,asuspiciousopticnerve,orevenastrongfamilyhistoryofglaucoma,couldputsomeoneinthecategoryofaglaucomasuspect. Visionlossfromglaucomaoccurswhentheeyepressureistoohighforthespecificindividualanddamagestheopticnerve.Anyresultantdamagecannotbereversed.Theperipheral(side)visionisusuallyaffectedfirst.Thechangesinvisionmaybesogradualthattheyarenotnoticeduntilalotofvisionlosshasalreadyoccurred. Intime,iftheglaucomaisnottreated,centralvisionwillalsobedecreasedandthenlost;thisishowvisualimpairmentfromglaucomaismostoftennoticed.Thegoodnewsisthatglaucomacanbemanagedifdetectedearly,andwithmedicaland/orsurgicaltreatment,mostpeoplewithglaucomawillnotlosetheirsight. ViewVideo Video:OcularHypertension Thetermocularhypertensiontypicallyreferstoanysituationinwhichthepressureinsidetheeye,calledintraocularpressure,ishigherthannormal. Ocularhypertensionisnotconsideredadiseasebyitself,butitcanleadtoaconditionknownasglaucoma. Glaucomaisaseriousdiseasethatcausesvisionlossandcanalsoleadtoblindnessifleftuntreated.Onitsown,ocularhypertensiondoesnotcausedamagetovision.Thisconditionmustbemonitoredcarefullyand,insomecases,treatedwithtopicaleyemedications. Ifyourdoctorfeelsthatyouareatlowriskofdevelopingglaucomainthenextseveralyears,theneyemedicationsmaynotbenecessary.Sinceocularhypertensionmayincreasetheriskofdevelopingglaucoma,routineeyeexamsbyaneyecareprofessionalarerecommendedtoassesstheeye’soverallhealth.   PostedonSeptember1,2015 LastreviewedonFebruary8,2022 JamesC.Tsai,MD JamesC.Tsai,MDisPresidentoftheNewYorkEyeandEarInfirmaryofMountSinaiandChair,DepartmentofOphthalmology,IcahnSchoolofMedicineatMountSinaiinNewYork,NY. RelatedArticles DoIHaveCataractsorGlaucoma? GlaucomaFAQ:AnswerstoYourQuestions QuestionsandAnswers:NeovascularGlaucoma Helpuscureglaucoma.Donatetoday! MoreAboutGRF OurGoals OurMission ConnectingwithOurCommunity CollaborativeResearch LeadershipTeam GRFAmbassadors HowcanWeHelp? 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