Departments

Department of Glaucoma

How often should we be examined?

The diagnosis of glaucoma is a very important diagnosis. The patient finds him or herself facing a chronic condition with chronic treatment and naturally his or her psychological state changes. What the patient must know is that provided he or she follows the doctor's instructions and is periodically examined, he or she should not be afraid of the ominous progress of the disease and should live an otherwise normal life with no particular limitations.

Patients suffering of glaucoma should undergo a full ophthalmological examination, with pressure measurement and ophthalmoscopy every 3-4 months. They should also undergo a glaucoma study based on the above technology every 6 months. These new technologies are complementary and the aim is to determine whether the condition has progressed in the course of a year and to decide accordingly.

Also, patients with ophthalmic hypertonia, even though they do not have glaucoma and probably do not need chronic treatment, must undergo the same tests as the patients with glaucoma so that if the first lesions appear, it is possible to keep them at this early stage.

Glaucoma prevention is very important. People with glaucoma family history should be examined by their ophthalmologist once a year, as a preventive measure. Also, patients with myopia, diabetics, patients with cardiovascular problems should be checked once a year, as a preventive measure. Also, they must undergo an ophthalmological check-up at least once in their lifetime until the age of 40. After this age, it is best that their ophthalmologist gives them a check-up once every 1-2 years. We remind you that glaucoma has no symptoms and most of the cases is diagnosed accidentally.

Also, patients with glaucoma, when visiting their eye doctor should be more interested in their optic nerve health and less in their eyes’ pressure. So, never fail to ask: How is my optic nerve this time, doctor?