High intraocular pressure = glaucoma? Or maybe...

"Doctor, my eyes are sore and swollen. The examination showed that my intraocular pressure is high. Please help me check if I have glaucoma!"

With the development of the social environment and changes in living conditions, in recent years, glaucoma is no longer a "patent" of middle-aged and elderly people. More and more young people are beginning to suffer from glaucoma. Seeing the increased intraocular pressure in the examination report, people can't help but worry.

High intraocular pressure = glaucoma?

What is glaucoma?

Does glaucoma necessarily mean high intraocular pressure?

Today, let’s talk about “intraocular pressure”

What is intraocular pressure?

Intraocular pressure is the pressure from inside the eyeball acting on the eyeball wall, referred to as intraocular pressure. It is the balanced pressure exerted by the contents of the eye on the eyeball wall. Normal eyeball function depends on the maintenance of normal intraocular pressure, and normal intraocular pressure can maintain eyeball stability.

Normal intraocular pressure is 10 mmHg to 21 mmHg, and the fluctuation of one eye is less than 8 mmHg. IOP>24 mmHg is considered high intraocular pressure, while IOP<8 mmHg is considered low intraocular pressure.

Generally, high or low intraocular pressure will damage vision to varying degrees, especially high intraocular pressure. Therefore, intraocular pressure is an important item in ophthalmological examinations, and its value is related to the visual function of the eye.

Intraocular Pressure and Glaucoma

High intraocular pressure ≠ glaucoma

Glaucoma is a very complex eye disease. High intraocular pressure is an important factor in the occurrence and development of glaucoma, but increased intraocular pressure does not necessarily mean that you have glaucoma.

If the patient only has increased intraocular pressure, without any damage to the optic disc or visual field, and the angle function is normal, this condition is called ocular hypertension .

It is important to be aware that although ocular hypertension does not cause damage to the fundus and visual field, high ocular pressure is always a risk factor for glaucoma and may still develop into glaucoma.

Glaucoma ≠ high intraocular pressure

The higher the intraocular pressure, the greater the possibility of glaucoma. However, glaucoma patients do not necessarily have high intraocular pressure. Some glaucoma patients also have intraocular pressure within the normal range.

Clinically, the condition with typical optic disc damage and visual field loss, where optic nerve damage occurs within the normal intraocular pressure range is called normal-tension glaucoma or low-tension glaucoma.

Normal-tension glaucoma is a latent disease. In the early stage, most patients have no obvious symptoms, such as sore eyes, swelling eyes, eye pain, and eye fatigue. In addition, the intraocular pressure of patients is normal, and most of them are diagnosed after visual dysfunction occurs. Therefore, glaucoma cannot be diagnosed by looking at intraocular pressure alone. It is also necessary to check the functional structures of the chamber angle, optic disc, optic nerve, etc., and make a comprehensive diagnosis based on the examination results.

Glaucoma ≠ Blindness

Glaucoma is an irreversible blinding eye disease. After hearing this, many people think that if they have glaucoma, they will definitely go blind. This is a big misunderstanding about the treatment of glaucoma. If the treatment is active and the condition is controlled and stable, effective vision and visual function can often be preserved. At present, there are still many treatment measures for glaucoma, which are divided into drugs, surgery, and laser treatment. As long as "early detection, timely treatment, reasonable treatment, and regular follow-up" are achieved, the course of glaucoma can be controlled. Although the blindness rate of glaucoma is very high and irreversible, we control the intraocular pressure within the normal range, so as not to cause the progression of optic nerve atrophy and visual field loss, thereby avoiding blindness. Be sure to follow the doctor's advice to go to the hospital for regular check-ups and closely monitor intraocular pressure!

Director Zhang Ying of the Glaucoma Department of the Aier Eye Hospital affiliated to Wuhan University reminds that glaucoma itself is a syndrome, and there are multiple indicators to evaluate glaucoma. In daily life, we should pay more attention to eye care and attach great importance to eye health. If you find any discomfort in your eyes, you should immediately go to a regular hospital for a detailed examination, and early diagnosis and treatment are appropriate.