Early symptoms of glaucoma

Glaucoma is a very common eye problem. There are many reasons for this kind of problem. It takes a long time to improve it. And after suffering from such an eye disease, the correct treatment method should be chosen so that there will be no damage to the eyes. What are the early symptoms of glaucoma? There are many aspects of the early symptoms of glaucoma.

So what are the early symptoms of glaucoma? The following is a detailed introduction. After this type of eye problem occurs, patients should pay attention to timely treatment to avoid glaucoma from becoming more serious.

Early symptoms of glaucoma:

There are four main types of glaucoma: congenital glaucoma, primary glaucoma, secondary glaucoma, and mixed glaucoma. The clinical manifestations and characteristics of various types of glaucoma are different, so early detection and early treatment are necessary.

1. Congenital glaucoma

Depending on the age of onset, it can be infantile glaucoma and juvenile glaucoma. Glaucoma under the age of 30 falls into this category. The cause of congenital glaucoma is abnormal development of the anterior chamber angle during embryonic development, which results in obstruction of aqueous humor outflow and causes increased intraocular pressure.

(1) Infantile glaucoma

Children aged 0 to 3 years old with glaucoma are generally classified into this category. This type is the most common congenital glaucoma. The disease occurs in the mother's womb and symptoms appear immediately or slowly after birth. It is usually a bilateral disease, but it does not necessarily occur at the same time. Some children may develop the disease in only one eye. The clinical manifestations are obvious protrusion of the eyeballs after birth, which are quite similar to the eyes of a cow, hence the name "cow eyes". There may also be systemic symptoms such as fear of light, tearing, rubbing the eyes, eyelid spasms, corneal turbidity, irritability and crying, poor appetite or vomiting, and excessive sweating. The key to the prognosis of this type is timely and correct diagnosis. Because the eye wall of children is in the development stage, early detection and early treatment are beneficial to the prognosis of children.

(2) Juvenile glaucoma

The age of onset is between 3 and 30 years old. The clinical manifestations of this type are similar to those of open-angle glaucoma. It has a hidden onset and is extremely harmful. In recent years, this type of disease has occurred mostly in myopic patients, and the incidence rate has been increasing. More than 90% of patients do not show typical glaucoma symptoms.

2. Primary glaucoma

According to the shape of the anterior chamber angle and the severity of onset, it is divided into acute and chronic angle-closure glaucoma, open-angle glaucoma, etc.:

(1) Acute angle-closure glaucoma

Acute angle-closure glaucoma occurs when the intraocular angle suddenly narrows or closes, which prevents the aqueous humor from draining out in time, causing the aqueous humor to fill up and the intraocular pressure to rise sharply. It is more common in middle-aged and elderly people, with 90% over 40 years old. The incidence rate is higher in women, with a male to female ratio of 1:4. It is ferocious and the symptoms are mild or severe. When the disease occurs, the anterior chamber is narrow or completely closed, and it manifests as sudden onset of severe eye swelling, headache, sharp decrease in vision, hard eyeballs like stones, conjunctival congestion, nausea, vomiting, constipation, and high blood pressure. If not diagnosed and treated in time, the patient may become completely blind within 24 to 48 hours, with no light perception. This is called "fulminant glaucoma." However, clinically, some patients have a strong tolerance for pain, and only experience discomfort in the eye sockets and eyes, or even no symptoms in the eyes, but the pain is transferred to the forehead, ears, maxillary sinus, teeth, etc. Acute angle-closure glaucoma is actually caused by the recurrence of chronic angle-closure glaucoma.

(2) Chronic angle-closure glaucoma

The age of onset is over 30 years old. This type of attack usually has obvious triggers, such as emotional excitement, visual fatigue, excessive use of eyes and brain, long-term insomnia, habitual constipation, women during menstruation, or improper local or systemic medication, etc., which can be triggered by dry eyes, fatigue, discomfort, distension and pain, blurred vision or decreased vision, halo vision, dizziness, insomnia, and high blood pressure, which can be relieved after rest. Some patients may become blind without any symptoms. During examination, the intraocular pressure may be normal or fluctuating, or not too high, 20-30 mmHg. The fundus may be normal in the early stage. This type is most easily misdiagnosed. If this happens repeatedly and the anterior chamber angle closes, fulminant glaucoma may develop.

There are four early symptoms: 1. Frequent feeling of eye fatigue and discomfort. ② Eyes often feel sore and swollen, which will be relieved after rest. ③ Blurred vision, myopia or presbyopia suddenly worsens. ④ Eyes often feel dry.

(3) Primary open-angle glaucoma mostly occurs in people over 40 years old. 25% of patients have a family history. The vast majority of patients have no obvious symptoms, and some even become blind without feeling any discomfort. During an attack, the anterior chamber angle is open.

3. Secondary glaucoma

Glaucoma caused by eye and systemic diseases belongs to this category. The causes are quite complicated and there are many types. Here we only briefly describe the most common types of secondary glaucoma:

(1) Refractive error (i.e. myopia, hyperopia) secondary to glaucoma

Due to abnormal adjustment of the refractive system, dysfunction of the ciliary muscle, imbalance in aqueous humor secretion, and compression of the anterior chamber angle by the root of the iris, the drainage of aqueous humor is blocked, which causes increased intraocular pressure. The clinical characteristics of such patients are conscious symptoms of visual fatigue or no obvious discomfort, and their vision cannot be corrected by wearing glasses, which makes them easily misdiagnosed.

(2) Secondary glaucoma such as corneal, conjunctival, and uveitis

Intraocular inflammation causes turbidity of the aqueous humor, edema of the ciliary muscle, iris, and cornea, shallowing of the chamber angle or adhesion of the pupil, obstruction of the trabecular meshwork, and inability of the aqueous humor to drain normally, causing increased intraocular pressure.

(3) Cataracts secondary to glaucoma cause the lens opacity to swell and edematous during development, or to shift position, leading to a relatively narrow anterior chamber and obstruction of aqueous humor drainage, causing increased intraocular pressure. Once cataract surgery is performed, the optic nerve will quickly atrophy and cause blindness.

(4) Traumatic glaucoma causes angle tearing, iris root detachment, or anterior chamber hemorrhage, vitreous hemorrhage, and retinal concussion, which block the secretion and discharge of aqueous humor, leading to secondary glaucomatous optic nerve atrophy.

4. Mixed glaucoma

Two or more types of primary glaucoma exist at the same time, and the clinical symptoms are the same as those of the combined type.

The above is a detailed introduction to the early symptoms of glaucoma. These are the early symptoms of glaucoma, so the treatment methods are also different. If you want to be able to treat your own glaucoma disease well, you need to choose the correct treatment method, which will be of great help to improve eye problems.