Does Glaucoma Always Lead to Blindness?

Glaucoma is a disease that affects the health of the eyes and—eventually—the vision of the eyes. It’s important to distinguish between these two, because it’s possible to have clear vision while your eye health is being compromised by the advancement of glaucoma. This means that a person may have no symptoms of glaucoma at all, allowing this disease to silently worsen to the point of blindness. This is why your Wilmington optometrist gives you a glaucoma test during every appointment, even if you come in for an entirely different reason.

What is Glaucoma?

Glaucoma progresses over a long period of time. Pressure builds up behind the eye, causing a buildup of fluid. This buildup puts pressure on the optic nerve, disrupting the signals between your eyes and your brain. Without the flow of those signals, the capacity for vision is lost. In other words, the patient goes blind. Glaucoma can technically affect people of all ages, but it’s most common in those over 40.

Untreated Glaucoma Leads to Blindness

Unless glaucoma is treated, it almost always leads to blindness eventually. Vision loss will progress slowly over a period of years, but the loss will be permanent and 100% unless the disease is treated. At any stage during this progression, the disease may be halted or at least slowed in its advancement toward blindness. However, this is an outcome that doesn’t necessarily have to happen. With routine testing for glaucoma at your vision center in Wilmington, in coordination with any necessary treatment, glaucoma doesn’t have to lead to total blindness.

Each time you visit Paul Vision Institute in Wilmington, you’ll be tested for glaucoma. The test is fast, painless and non-invasive. Yet, this simple test aids in the prevention of the devastating and preventable disease of glaucoma.