Glaucoma Eye Exams | Aurora Eye Care

Catch the “Silent Thief of Sight” in its Tracks

Glaucoma is among the leading eye diseases in Canada.

In many cases, glaucoma can also develop with no noticeable symptoms during its early stages, earning the name “the silent thief of sight.” Our team can search for these signs and develop strategies to help protect your vision using our array of diagnostic technology.

It’s never too early to find the help you need. Book an appointment at Aurora Eye Care today.

Book Appointment

The Risk of Glaucoma Rises With Age

Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that affect your optic nerve, the part of your eye responsible for carrying the information that your retina collects to your brain. Most types of glaucoma develop slowly, but certain variations can cause sudden emergency symptoms we need to address immediately.

Age is among the most common risk factors for developing glaucoma, but your risk can also increase if your family has a history of the disease or if you have myopia.

There Are Several Types of Glaucoma

Our team can detect which type of glaucoma you have during a comprehensive eye exam.

There are 3 important ways to do this: measuring your eye’s intraocular pressure (IOP) with a tonometer , observing your optic nerve using ocular coherence tomography or fundus photography devices, and monitoring changes to your peripheral vision using a visual field analyzer.

High IOP is often linked to glaucoma development. However, some versions of the disease can develop without affecting your IOP, meaning we’ll have to look at your optic nerve to determine if you have glaucoma.

Open-Angle Glaucoma

Open-angle glaucoma is the most common version of the disease, responsible for 90% of all cases in Canada.

Open-angle glaucoma develops when blockages form in your eye’s natural drainage system, which prevents fluids from draining out of your eye. As a result, fluids build up in the eye, possibly damaging the optic nerve.

You may not experience symptoms for a long time, but any vision loss it causes is permanent. Detecting and addressing open-angle glaucoma as early as possible is the key to preserving your vision.

Primary Angle-Closure Glaucoma

Primary angle-closure glaucoma, sometimes known as closed-angle glaucoma, can cause sudden emergency symptoms like blurred vision, eye pain, and redness.

This version of the disease can occur when the drainage angle in your eye (an area where fluids drain between the iris and sclera) closes. As a result, your IOP levels can rapidly increase and lead to symptoms.

Normal-Tension Glaucoma

Normal-tension glaucoma is a version of the disease that can develop even if your IOP levels are within normal limits.

Though doctors aren’t sure how normal-tension glaucoma develops, we can detect this disease by observing your optic nerve during an eye exam.

Glaucoma Treatments

In most cases, glaucoma does not cause immediate or noticeable symptoms. In fact, without an eye exam, you may not know you have glaucoma at all.

Over time, however, glaucoma can affect your peripheral vision. You may develop tunnel vision as it develops, but it could also lead to complete vision loss.

Unfortunately, there is no cure for glaucoma, but we could recommend a few different strategies to help preserve your vision. Surgeries are performed on an outpatient basis, and we’ll be happy to put you in touch with an ophthalmologist (eye surgeon) to perform the procedure.

Oral & Eye Drop Medication

One of the first steps we’ll take to help manage glaucoma is to prescribe certain oral and eye drop medications.

These medications can help manage your IOP levels. We often prescribe both medications together, and strict adherence to your prescription is the key to preserving your sight.

Laser Trabeculoplasty

Laser trabeculoplasty is a surgical procedure we may recommend to help manage the risk of glaucoma.

During the procedure, your ophthalmologist will use a beam of laser energy to target your eye’s drainage system (specifically the trabecular meshwork—the network of drainage canals). This clears away blockages and makes it easier for fluids to drain from the eye.

Trabeculectomy

During a trabeculectomy procedure, your ophthalmologist creates a small opening in your eye that allows them to remove tissue from your trabecular meshwork (the canals where fluid drains from the eye). The new opening they create allows fluids to pass through and into your sclera.

Fluids collecting in your sclera can create a small bubble called a bleb, but your bloodstream absorbs the fluids over time.

Book Your Glaucoma Exam Today

If you risk developing glaucoma, book an eye exam with us today. Detecting the disease as early as possible can help create strategies that could preserve your vision.