Signs & Symptoms

The most common types of glaucoma—open-angle and angle-closure—have completely different symptoms.

A patient with glaucoma having an eye pressure check.

Symptoms of Open-Angle Glaucoma

Most people who develop open-angle glaucoma don’t experience any noticeable symptoms at first. That’s why it’s critical to have regular eye exams, so that your eye doctor can detect problems early on. Symptoms of open-angle glaucoma are:

  • Gradual loss of peripheral vision, usually in both eyes
  • Tunnel vision in the advanced stages
A senior man with his eyeglasses in one hand and holding the bridge of his nose with the other.

Symptoms of Acute Angle-Closure Glaucoma

Acute angle-closure glaucoma is a medical emergency and must be treated immediately or blindness could result in one or two days. Acute angle-closure glaucoma signs and symptoms include:

  • Severe eye pain
  • Nausea and vomiting (accompanying the severe eye pain)
  • Sudden onset of visual disturbance, often in low light
  • Blurred vision
  • Halos around lights
  • Reddening of the eye
A medical illustration of the brain showing a connection between the eye and the occipital cortex.

Symptoms of Chronic Angle-Closure Glaucoma

This type of glaucoma progresses more slowly and can damage the optic nerve without symptoms, similar to open-angle glaucoma.

Similarly, people with normal-tension glaucoma will not experience any symptoms until they begin to lose peripheral vision.

Screening & Diagnosis

If you’re at high risk for glaucoma, you should have a dilated pupil eye examination at least every one to two years. To help diagnose glaucoma, an ophthalmologist or optometrist will perform a comprehensive eye exam that may include the following tests:

A person having an eye pressure exam using a tonometer.

Tonometry

This test measures the pressure inside the eye. Examples of tonometers include:

  • The air puff or noncontact tonometer emits a puff of air. The test measures eye pressure by the eye's resistance to the air.
  • The applanation tonometer touches the eye's surface after the eye has been numbed and measures the amount of pressure necessary to flatten the cornea.

This is the most sensitive tonometer, but the cornea must be clear and regularly shaped for it to function properly.

  • The electronic indentation method measures pressure by directly contacting anesthetized eyes with a digital pen-like instrument.
Healthy maculas.

Optic Nerve Imaging

Imaging helps document optic nerve changes over time. Nerve imaging techniques include:

  • Stereo optic nerve photographs
  • Scanning laser polarimetry (GDx)
  • Confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscopy (Heidelberg Retinal Tomograph or HRT)
  • Optical coherence tomography (OCT)

All four techniques are painless and noninvasive. Your doctor determines which method(s) to use, depending on your glaucoma condition.

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