Have you ever had someone sneak up on you from behind and scare you? As a kid, I hated it when people would do that to me. I came to realize the importance of peripheral (or side) vision. There is a disease that can affect people over age 40 that slowly destroys your side vision. It is called glaucoma. Glaucoma is usually a slow, painless loss of side vision due to damage to the optic nerves in your eyes caused usually by too much pressure in your eyes. What is too much pressure? The front chamber of the eye is filled with fluid much like water and it is produced and drained by the eye at an equal rate. As we age, the drain system breaks down causing a rise in pressure as the fluid production continues in spite of the failure of the drain. You don’t feel this at all and it can happen slowly and silently until you have lost significant side vision. The only way to know if you have this is to have your eyes professionally examined by an eye doctor using the latest in technology equipment. If you are over 40 and haven’t had your eyes check in over a year or two (even though you feel that you see fine), you should visit your eye doctor to see if you have glaucoma. This is especially true if you have a parent or other family member who have had trouble with glaucoma. Don’t let the silent thief of sight sneak up on you.
Make an appointment with one of our eye doctors today.
Scott D. Peterson, O.D.