Glaucoma Exam & Testing Time!

January is Glaucoma Awareness Month and a reminder to have a thorough glaucoma eye exam and testing. Glaucoma is a disease that damages the optic as a result of a fluid buildup in the front of the eye creating an elevated Intraocular Pressure (IOP). This is the most common type of glaucoma called Primary Open Angle Glaucoma and is usually painless and causes no vision changes at first, making it particularly important to have regular eye exams and testing-especially if you are over 40 or someone in your family has glaucoma!

The only sure way to diagnose glaucoma is with a complete eye exam. A glaucoma screening that only checks eye pressure is not enough to find glaucoma. During a glaucoma exam, your eye will:

Measure your eye pressure-called tonometry.
Inspect your eye’s drainage angle-called gonioscopy.
Examine your optic nerve for damage with a special lens
Test your peripheral (side) vision-called visual field testing.
Take a computer measurement of your optic nerve-called OCT.
Measure the thickness of your cornea-called pachymetry.

These tests are part of your complete eye exam with glaucoma testing and give your doctor the necessary information to provide early detection and diagnose glaucoma. With early detection, diagnosis and treatment vision loss from glaucoma can be prevented.

If you or someone you know has not had recent eye exam with glaucoma testing please schedule one at The Eye Care & Surgery Center at 592 Springfield Avenue, Westfield, NJ 07090 at (908) 789-8999, 10 Mountain Boulevard, Warren, NJ 07059 at (908) 754-4800 or 517 Route One South, Suite 1100, Iselin, NJ 08830 at (732) 636-7355, or visit The Eye Care & Surgery Center or Facebook.

The Eye Care & Surgery Center, an affiliate of Prism Vision Group, is located at 592 Springfield Avenue, Westfield, New Jersey 07090, 10 Mountain Boulevard, Warren, New Jersey 07059 and 517 Route One South, Suite 1100, Iselin, New Jersey 08830, and is easy to reach for patients from throughout central and northern New Jersey.