Posted on Friday, July 11, 2025
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by Outside Contributor
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Sponsored By: VSP® Individual Vision Plans
Did you know that glaucoma is the second-leading cause of vision loss and blindness in the United States? There are more than 3 million people affected by the disease in the U.S. today, but only half are even aware they have the disease.
What Is Glaucoma?
Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that damage the optic nerve and lead to progressive, irreversible vision loss. This damage is most commonly caused by a buildup of fluid in the front of your eye, which leads to increased pressure in the eye, ultimately damaging the optic nerve and causing irreversible vision loss.
Vision loss caused by glaucoma initially impacts your peripheral (or side) vision before progressing to affect your central (or forward-facing) vision.
What Are the Different Types of Glaucoma?
There are two major types of glaucoma:
- Open-angle glaucoma happens gradually. With this type of glaucoma, the eye doesn’t drain fluid as well as it should, resulting in a slow buildup of pressure. This is the most common type of glaucoma.
- Angle-closure glaucoma (or close-angle glaucoma) happens when the iris is close to the drainage angle in your eye, forming a “block” and preventing your eye from draining properly.
Other types of glaucoma include normal tension glaucoma, which is a form of open-angle glaucoma that occurs in people with normal eye pressure but who still have damage to their optic nerve.
Some people may also have high eye pressure but no damage to the optic nerve yet. These people are considered to be at a higher risk of developing glaucoma at some point and may be referred to as “glaucoma suspects.”
What Are Glaucoma Symptoms?
Most of the time, glaucoma has no early symptoms. Because the pressure builds up gradually and painlessly, most people don’t realize they have glaucoma until their optic nerve becomes damaged and vision is lost.
Though open-angle glaucoma usually doesn’t have initial symptoms, some glaucoma symptoms that occur later in the disease’s progression include:
- Blind spots
- Loss of peripheral vision
Unlike open-angle glaucoma, angle-closure glaucoma can cause sudden symptoms early on, including:
- Red eyes
- Intense eye pain
- Blurry vision
- Nausea
Go to your doctor or local emergency room right away if you experience these symptoms.
How Is Glaucoma Diagnosed and Treated?
The only way to diagnose glaucoma is through an eye exam.
While a glaucoma screening (the “puff of air” test at your eye doctor) checks your eye’s pressure, it won’t diagnose glaucoma.
To diagnose glaucoma, your eye doctor will check your eye pressure and look at your eye, including your drainage angle and optic nerve, to look for blocks or damage. They’ll also test your vision, including your peripheral vision, and more to diagnose glaucoma.
Glaucoma damage is permanent, can occur in one or both eyes, and has no cure. Once identified, your eye doctor will work to lower your eye’s pressure and prevent further damage using glaucoma treatment options such as:
- Medications (often eye drops) to lower your eye pressure
- Laser surgery treatments to help the eye drain
- Glaucoma surgery to create new drainage channels
If surgery is required, your doctor will let you know what to expect during glaucoma surgery based on the type of surgery you have had before your procedure.
Can I Prevent Glaucoma?
We know eye pressure causes damage to the optic nerve—leading to glaucoma. But you may be wondering, “What causes glaucoma?” and “How can I prevent glaucoma from happening to me?”
Improper drainage in the eye causes glaucoma. While this can happen to anyone, there are some factors that can increase your risk of developing glaucoma, including:
- Long-term use of steroid medications
- Being farsighted or nearsighted
- A history of diabetes, migraines, high blood pressure, or poor blood circulation
- Being over the age of 40
- Having African, Hispanic, or Asian heritage
While glaucoma isn’t necessarily hereditary, there are certain types of glaucoma, like hereditary glaucoma, that are caused by gene mutations passed down in the family. If you have family members with glaucoma, your risk of developing it also increases.
While you can’t prevent glaucoma from developing, early detection is key to protecting your vision, making eye exams an important part of your glaucoma prevention plan.
Early Detection Is Key
While most types of glaucoma have no early signs, an eye exam can detect glaucoma in its early stages—allowing your eye doctor to take action and preserve as much of your vision as possible. Eye exams are essential. Contact your VSP® network doctor to schedule an appointment.
Information received through VSP Vision Care channels is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, medical recommendations, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your eye doctor, physician, or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.
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