Men With Blurry Vision At 30? See Your Optometrist About Pigmentary Glaucoma
If you're over 30 years of age and experience blurry vision when you look at things from a distance, see an optometrist for care. Blurred vision can mean a number of things, including pigmentary glaucoma. An optometrist can measure the pressure in your eyes to see if you have pigmentary glaucoma. In addition, you can relieve the pressure around your eyes at home. Here's how pigmentary glaucoma affects your vision and what an optometrist can do about it.
Can Glaucoma Occur in Your 30s?
Pigmentary glaucoma is a rare and inherited eye condition that occurs in men who are between 20 and 30 years of age. Although a number of men don't experience symptoms of pigmentary glaucoma, some men can experience blurred or haloed vision. In addition, you can develop myopia, or the inability to see objects from a distance. Myopia makes objects appear blurry, skewed or out of focus.
Like other types of glaucoma, high pressure around the optic nerve causes pigmentary glaucoma. The optic nerve is the delicate tissue in each eye that relays color, light and other sensitive information to the brain. Fluid builds up in the back of the eyes and presses against the optic nerves until they can't receive, decipher and transmit all the details of the things you see to the brain.
For example, instead of seeing a red stop sign down the street, you only see a dark, fuzzy object. Since you can't make out objects from afar, you may misjudge distances when you drive, which can lead to an accident on the road.
Visiting an optometrist (such as one from Arizona Eye Specialists) for care is the best option for you right now.
How Can an Optometrist Help?
An optometrist will test or measure the pressure inside each eye to determine whether or not you have pigmentary glaucoma or another type of glaucoma to treat. The testing methods vary but applanation and electronic indentation tonometry tests are very common today. The tests measure and record how much pressure is needed to flatten or compress your corneas. If your eyes don't have excessive pressure inside them, the corneas will appear soft when pressed. If there's too much pressure inside your eyes, the corneas will appear hard and unmovable.
If you do have too much pressure inside your eyes, an eye doctor may suggest laser surgery to help drain the fluids around your optic nerves. A doctor may also prescribe eyeglasses to correct your myopia. An optometrist will discuss the best treatment options for your pigmentary glaucoma and myopia in greater detail when you visit them.
For more information about pigmentary glaucoma and your treatment, consult with an eye doctor near you today.