4 Early Signs of Glaucoma You Need to Know

Glaucoma is one of the more dangerous eye conditions for a simple reason: it often goes unnoticed until it has already taken part of a person’s eyesight. 

Unfortunately, sight lost to glaucoma is typically irreversible. This makes it vital to detect the ailment early on, so that there’s a chance to stop the disease from progressing further.

In Singapore, it’s estimated that over 80% of people with glaucoma are unaware of it. This guide takes you through the early warning signs and what you need to know about the disease, so you or a loved one can seek help before irreversible damage occurs.

What Is Glaucoma?

Glaucoma is an eye condition that damages the optic nerve, which is the pathway where visual information from your eye travels to your brain. 

Glaucoma is often linked to high intraocular pressure, also called IOP, or pressure inside the eye. The pressure squeezes the nerve, which is what leads to damage.

Left untreated, this condition can lead to permanent vision loss. The worst cases even end with blindness.

Why Glaucoma Awareness Matters in Singapore

Glaucoma figures in Singapore show that around 3 in 100 people over the age of 50 may have the condition. The figures go up to almost one in 10 when you look at cohorts of people aged over 70.

This gives you an indication of how prevalent the disease may be in our ageing population. Understanding early signs is thus important for every family.

The Challenge of Glaucoma Diagnosis

The most common type of glaucoma is primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG). It tends to develop slowly over the years without any noticeable symptoms. 

This means that most people will never even suspect that they have the illness in its early stages. Without eye screenings, most people will miss the very faint signs of a problem, and by the time they do notice something’s amiss, permanent vision loss has already occurred.

Common Early Signs of Glaucoma

As noted above, glaucoma is usually nearly asymptomatic in its early stages. Despite that, there are a few early signs that some people have. 

1. Changes in Your Peripheral Vision

One of the earliest signs of glaucoma is a gradual loss of peripheral or side vision. If you start noticing changes in it, it may be time to get an eye screening. 

Take note that you may even notice changes in other areas first. For example, you might start bumping into objects on your sides. Or you might start missing more things at the edge of your sightline.

If you notice such changes, it may be a sign that your field of vision has narrowed compared to before.

2. Blurry or Patchy Vision

A few people also say they noticed patches of blurry or hazy vision as an early glaucoma signal. It tends to happen more often in low light.

In most cases, the fogging doesn’t cover the entire visual field. Instead, it seems to fog over only certain spots or areas of it.

3. Halos

Halos or rainbow-coloured rings around lights can be a sign of glaucoma. This is because it’s often associated with rising eye pressure. 

This particular symptom is more often associated with the less common glaucoma type, or angle-closure glaucoma. As this is also more prevalent in Asian populations, it’s worth paying attention to the symptom.

4. Worsened Night Vision

If you notice yourself struggling more than before to adjust when switching from a bright space to a dark one, it may be an indication of optic nerve changes. 

This isn’t always the case, and other ailments can also account for it. However, it’s worth paying attention to, especially if it worsens over time.