Do you have glaucoma? Your future is bright if you take charge

Dr. Laura Sperazza, Lighthouse Guild Director of Low Vision Services, discusses what you should know about glaucoma

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What should you do if you find out you have glaucoma, an eye disease that can sneak up on you and which left untreated, can cause irreversible vision loss? The answer is to follow the treatment regime prescribed by your doctor.

Glaucoma can be treated. You may prevent the onset or progression of vision loss. Most patients diagnosed with glaucoma will not go blind if they follow their treatment plan.

Your eye doctor will talk to you about possible options, such as glaucoma eye drops and/or glaucoma surgery. But, ultimately, you are the only one who can save your vision.

Take these steps to preserve your eyesight

The best way to prevent vision loss is to follow your eye doctor’s advice, including to:

• Get regular eye examinations. Do your best to monitor your glaucoma and keep it from worsening by having regular eye examinations as recommended by your eye doctor. Make an eye exam appointment at Lighthouse Guild’s full service Optometric and Low Vision Clinic: Call 212-769-6313.

• Use your eye drops as prescribed. Don’t skip dosages of medication. Even missing one dose can cause a spike in eye pressure that can lead to vision loss.

You can live a normal life with glaucoma

If you have vision loss due to glaucoma, low vision rehabilitation and low vision devices can support your efforts to maintain a good quality of life.

• Lighthouse Guild’s Vision Rehabilitation Services help you regain function and maximize your usable vision. We help you to develop skills and strategies to remain safe, independent and active.

• Helpful low vision optical devices include magnifiers that can be hand-held or mounted in reading glasses, small telescopes for distance viewing, and special televisions that allow you to magnify and change the contrast when reading books, newspapers and magazines.

A diagnosis of glaucoma shouldn’t stop you from doing the things you want to do: going to school, working or independently maintaining your household. But it’s up to you.

Make sure you are using your eye drops as prescribed and getting a regular eye exam.

VIDEO: Lighthouse Guild’s Laura Sperazza, OD, reveals the most important things you should know if you’ve been diagnosed with glaucoma.

Watch the video Glaucoma: The most important things to know