Glaucoma Specialist
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Cirino Eye Center
Anthony J Cirino, D.O.
Ophthalmology & Cataract Surgeon & Board-Certified Comprehensive Ophthalmologist located in Brunswick, OH
Glaucoma is the leading cause of permanent vision loss in the United States. It develops slowly, often not causing symptoms until you have irreversible damage to your eyesight. Board-certified ophthalmologist Anthony Cirino, DO, at Cirino Eye Center specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of glaucoma. To schedule your eye exam, call the office in Brunswick, Ohio, or request an appointment online.
Glaucoma Q & A
What is glaucoma?
Glaucoma includes a group of eye diseases that damage your optic nerve, usually from an increase in fluid and pressure in your eye. Your optic nerve sends visual messages from your eye to your brain for interpretation.
Any damage to your optic nerve is permanent and may cause irreversible vision changes. Glaucoma is the leading cause of blindness in people 60 and older. However, the vision changes caused by glaucoma can be prevented with early diagnosis and treatment.
What are the types of glaucoma?
There are two main types of glaucoma.
Open-angle glaucoma
Open-angle glaucoma is the most common type. With this type of glaucoma, the increase in fluid and pressure in the eye occurs gradually because of problems with your eye’s drainage system.
Open-angle glaucoma causes no pain, and vision changes occur gradually over time.
Closed-angle glaucoma
Closed-angle glaucoma occurs when your iris is too close to the drainage angle in your eye, which blocks fluid from draining. When the drainage angle is completely blocked, fluid and pressure build up quickly.
With closed-angle glaucoma, symptoms occur quickly and unexpectedly and may include vision changes, headaches, eye pain, nausea, and vomiting.
Closed-angle glaucoma requires emergency medical care.
How is glaucoma diagnosed?
Dr. Cirino performs a comprehensive eye exam to diagnose glaucoma. During your exam, he performs many tests to assess vision and eye health.
He also performs a glaucoma screening that includes:
- Check of eye pressure
- Evaluation of your eye drainage angle
- Assessment of your optic nerve
- Peripheral vision test
- Measurement of cornea thickness
Dr. Cirino also uses advanced tools and technology to fully measure and assess your optic nerve to assess for damage.
How is glaucoma treated?
Dr. Cirino creates personalized glaucoma treatment plans. Though treatment can’t reverse damage to your optic nerve, it may help prevent further harm to the nerve and vision loss.
In most cases, Dr. Cirino prescribes eye drops to lower your eye pressure. You must use the eye drops daily to get the most benefits.
If you can’t tolerate the side effects of the medication, Dr. Cirino may recommend surgical intervention to improve eye drainage. He may perform laser surgery or traditional eye surgery to treat glaucoma.
To schedule your glaucoma screening, call Cirino Eye Center or book an appointment online today.
