Glaucoma Over 20: Why Do You Have It And How Can Eye Stent Surgery Help?

If you're in your 20s and your eye doctor diagnoses you with glaucoma,  protect your vision now with eye stent surgery. Although glaucoma generally develops in people 40 years old and up, it can occur in younger adults. Your eye doctor calls this rare condition early-onset glaucoma. Without the right treatment, your early-onset glaucoma can lead to blindness. Here's why you have early-onset glaucoma and how eye stent improves your vision.

What's Glaucoma?

Glaucoma is a progressive eye disease that damages your vision over time. In a number of cases, people with glaucoma don't know they have it until the condition becomes critical enough to cause blindness in one or both eyes.

Your eyes depend on large nerves and a network of blood vessels to keep them healthy. Sometimes, pressure builds up behind the optic nerves and disrupts the functions of other eye tissues, such as your irises and corneas. 

The pressure inside your eyes also prevents blood from circulating to your retinas. Your retinas convey messages to the optic nerves, which in turn, transport them to the brain. If your brain can't receive the colors, shapes or other images you see, it can't determine what they are or how to decipher them. As a result, the images appear fuzzy, distorted or blurry to you.

But since your doctor diagnosed your early-onset glaucoma now, you may stand a better chance of protecting your vision. Until you move forward with your treatment, you need to know why and how glaucoma developed in your eyes in the first place.

How Can Someone in Their 20s Get Glaucoma?

Early-onset glaucoma develops in people who are younger than 40 years of age. The disease can occur when you injure your eyes in an auto accident or when you fall and strike your head against a hard object, such as the floor or table.

Some medical conditions can damage the optic nerve over time or right away. For instance, if you develop a virus that mutates the cells and tissues of your eyes, you may develop early-onset glaucoma. 

A number of individuals inherit glaucoma, as well as other eye conditions, from their parents and other close relatives. If your family has other health conditions that indirectly or directly affect your vision, you should tell your eye doctor right away. Your eye doctor can take additional steps to protect your vision, such as prescribing eyeglasses or eye drops to help you see better.

Once your doctor makes the correct diagnoses and learns the extent of your early-onset glaucoma, they can alleviate the pressure from around your optic nerve with eye stent surgery.

What's Eye Stent Surgery and How Does It Work?

You should understand that your eye doctor can't cure your glaucoma condition. They can manage and treat the condition with eye stent surgery.

Eye stent surgery is a unique and innovative treatment that reduces the pressure around your optic nerves. An eye surgeon performs the procedure using a special laser. The laser is designed to reduce pain and inflammation in your eyes during and after your surgery. 

There are many different types of eye stent surgery used today. One type of stent surgery requires a surgeon to place or insert tiny devices called shunts inside the white parts of your eyes. The shunts drain the fluids from around your optical nerves and empties them into the tear ducts located in the corner of your eyes. 

Another treatment involves placing minuscule devices in the canals of your eyes. The devices create drainage systems that remove fluid from the optic nerves at different times of the day. Your vision becomes clearer and less strained after the eye surgery. 

Your eye doctor and surgeon will discuss the best procedures for your early-onset glaucoma during a private meeting. 

If you have additional concerns about eye stent surgery and early-onset glaucoma, contact your eye doctor or surgeon immediately or visit a site like http://www.checdocs.org.


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