Glaucoma Treatment in Tampa, Sebring, Brooksville & Gainesville

Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that damage the optic nerve, the cable that carries images from your eye to your brain. In most cases the damage is caused by pressure inside the eye that is too high for that particular optic nerve. Because it usually starts in the peripheral vision and progresses slowly, glaucoma is often called the “silent thief of sight.”

Most glaucoma has no symptoms at all until vision has already been lost. That is exactly why routine dilated eye exams matter. The exception is acute narrow-angle glaucoma, which causes sudden severe eye pain, headache, nausea, blurred vision and halos around lights — that is an emergency and you should be seen immediately.

There is no cure for glaucoma and vision already lost to it cannot be restored. Glaucoma can, however, be controlled. With early detection and consistent treatment, the large majority of patients keep useful vision for the rest of their lives.

Risk rises with age — it begins climbing after about age 35 and increases each decade after 60. Other risk factors include a family history of glaucoma, African American or Hispanic ancestry, diabetes, high eye pressure, thin corneas, nearsightedness, previous eye injury, and long-term steroid use.

Yes. Many glaucoma cases occur at pressures in the “normal” range, a form called normal-tension glaucoma. Pressure alone is never enough to rule glaucoma in or out, which is why we also image the optic nerve and test your visual field.

A complete glaucoma evaluation includes a pressure check (tonometry), a dilated look at the optic nerve, corneal thickness measurement (pachymetry), OCT nerve-fiber imaging, visual field testing and gonioscopy to examine the drainage angle. Together these tell us whether damage is present and whether it is progressing.

Treatment usually starts with prescription eye drops. If drops are not enough or are difficult to tolerate, options include SLT (selective laser trabeculoplasty), laser iridotomy for narrow angles, and minimally invasive glaucoma surgery such as the iStent, which can be placed during cataract surgery. Traditional filtering surgery or a tube shunt is reserved for advanced cases.

The iStent is a tiny device — the smallest medical implant known to be placed in the human body — that is inserted during cataract surgery to improve the eye’s natural fluid drainage. For many patients it lowers eye pressure and reduces dependence on glaucoma drops without a separate operation.

Adults with no risk factors should have a dilated eye exam every one to two years, and every year after age 60. If you have a family history of glaucoma, diabetes, or elevated eye pressure, your Newsom Eye doctor will likely recommend annual or more frequent monitoring.

Glaucoma testing and treatment are available at all five Newsom Eye locations — Sebring, Carrollwood (Tampa), South Tampa, Brooksville and Gainesville — with surgical care performed at our three AAAHC-accredited surgery centers.