One of the leading causes of blindness in the United States, glaucoma occurs when the pressure inside the eye rises high enough to damage the optic nerve. Glaucoma often develops over many years without causing pain - so you may not experience vision loss until the disease has progressed. Glaucoma cannot be prevented, and vision lost to it cannot be restored. For these reasons, regular eye exams and early detection are critical.

The high eye pressure associated with glaucoma is caused by blockages in the eye's fluid drains. No one knows yet why the blockages form.

Some ethnic groups, particularly Asians, commonly develop another form of glaucoma called normal-tension or low-tension glaucoma. This type of glaucoma is much more difficult to detect by standard screening techniques. This type of evasive glaucoma may represent almost 50% of the patients in our Honolulu Clinic. With a fellowship trained glaucoma specialist available in our office, we can offer the most modern evaluation and testing methods available today.

Symptoms are occasionally present and should be taken as warning signs that glaucoma may be developing; these include blurred vision, loss of peripheral vision, halo effects around lights and painful or reddened eyes. People at the greatest risk include those who are over the age of 40, diabetic, near-sighted, African-American, Asian, or who have a family history of glaucoma.

Once diagnosed, glaucoma can be controlled. Treatments to lower pressure in the eye include non-surgical methods such as prescription eye drops and medications, laser therapy, and surgery.

At the Maehara Eye Clinic, we regularly perform all forms of modern glaucoma surgery. We offer state of the art lasers, such as the SLT laser. The SLT laser can be performed in the comfort of our office in about 3 minutes with good pressure-lowering effect and virtually no recovery period. Other options include glaucoma filter surgeries, filtering valve implants, and other lasers.