What are the Common Symptoms and Complications of Glaucoma?
If you have chronic glaucoma, there is a very gradual increase in pressure that slowly damages your optic nerve, resulting in a slow progressive loss of vision. Usually both eyes are affected. You may not notice the visual loss to begin with as it starts at the edges of the field of vision. However, if it is not treated, it can eventually cause blindness. In someone with acute or ‘closed-angle’ glaucoma, symptoms start suddenly and usually affect only one eye. Initially, there may be a slight decrease in vision, the appearance of coloured halos around bright objects and pain in the eye and head. After a few hours the symptoms become much more severe with rapid loss of vision and sudden, severe throbbing pain in the eye. The eyelid swells and the eye becomes red and watery, with a dilated pupil that doesn’t respond to light by closing, as it should. There may be nausea and vomiting. Although most symptoms disappear after treatment with medication, there may be some remaining loss of per
