Glaucoma
What are the symptoms of glaucoma?
The common form of glaucoma usually causes no symptoms at all until a significant part of the side vision has gone. There is no pain, no redness and no blurring in the early stages. Acute angle closure glaucoma is different and causes sudden severe eye pain, redness, blurred vision, haloes around lights and sometimes vomiting, and needs urgent care.
Subtle changes people do report
- Bumping into door frames or people on one side
- Missing steps, kerbs or objects low in the field of view
- Difficulty judging distance in traffic or on stairs
- Needing much more light to read comfortably than before
- Slower adjustment when moving from bright sunlight into a dim room
Why symptoms come so late
Glaucoma damage starts in the mid and outer field, and the two eyes overlap. One eye covers the gap in the other, and the brain smooths over what is missing. Many patients are genuinely surprised when a visual field test shows how much is already lost, because reading vision felt normal.
Acute angle closure is a different story
When the drainage angle closes suddenly, pressure rises steeply within hours. The eye becomes painful and red, vision blurs, lights develop haloes and the pain may bring on headache, nausea and vomiting that can be mistaken for a stomach illness or migraine. This requires assessment the same day, because sight can be lost quickly.
The practical conclusion
Because you cannot rely on symptoms, glaucoma is found by examination rather than by how the eye feels. If you are over 35, of African ancestry or have a close relative with glaucoma, a periodic eye examination is the only dependable way to detect it in time.
When to seek urgent assessment
- Sudden severe eye pain with a red eye, blurred vision or haloes around lights
- Nausea or vomiting together with eye pain and blurred vision
- Sudden loss or narrowing of vision in one eye
Frequently asked questions
- Does glaucoma cause headaches?
- Chronic open angle glaucoma rarely causes headache. Acute angle closure can cause severe headache alongside eye pain and blurred vision, and that combination needs urgent assessment.
- Will new glasses fix my symptoms?
- New glasses can sharpen focus, but they cannot restore field of vision lost to glaucoma. If you have been changing glasses often without real improvement, ask for a full eye examination.
Concerned about these symptoms?
Arrange an eye examination with our consultant ophthalmologist in Garki, Abuja.
Care at Standard Eye
Related answers
- What are the early signs of glaucoma?
- What is glaucoma?
- What is a visual field test like?
- What is eye pressure, and what is a normal reading?
Return to all glaucoma answers.