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In order to preserve your sight and protect against the insidious onset of Glaucoma Coastal Eye Care physicians strongly suggest regular and complete eye examinations with an appropriate level of diagnostic testing for Glaucoma. There are a number of tests that may use individually or together in order to make the most accurate diagnosis of Glaucoma. All of these testing procedures are performed right in the comfort and convenience of our office:
Tonometry
The Tonometry Test is a method of measuring your Intraocular Pressure (IOP). This test involves first placing some eye drops into your eyes to numb them and then lightly touching the surface of the Cornea with a specialized measuring instrument. These is no discomfort involved and the test is quick and gives your doctor the first piece of important information in determining whether you have Glaucoma.
Ophthalmoscopy
Ophthalmoscopy is a method of carefully examining the inside of the eye-especially the optic nerve-in order to detect Glaucoma. Some eye drops will be placed in your eyes in order to dilate your pupils so that clear and direct observation of the optic nerve is possible. In a darkened room, your eye doctor may use several types of Ophthalmoscope in order to examine the shape and color of your optic nerve.
If either your Intraocular Pressure (IOP) is elevated or your optic nerve appears unusual, additional tests will be necessary in order to complete the Glaucoma examination. These may include the following test procedures:
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Visual Field Perimetry
Perimetry of Visual Field testing is an important part of the Glaucoma examination. During this test you will be asked to sit in front of a large “bowl like” instrument and look directly straight ahead. A computer program will present a number of lights in different positions of your “side” or peripheral vision to see how far your side vision extends in various directions. The computer will then plot an actual map of your field of vision so that the eye doctors at Coastal Eye Care can interpret this map in conjunction with other examination tests in order to understand how well your optic nerve is functioning.
Gonioscopy
Gonioscopy is a quick and painless test that allows the eye doctor to directly observe the health and condition of the angle where the Iris meets the Cornea. By directly observing the angle and its status your doctor canunderstand more about whether you are at risk for the angle to become closed or whether the Trabecular Meshwork appears to have a normal anatomical structure.
Optic Nerve Computer Imaging
At Coastal Eye Care our eye doctors use the most advanced computer imaging technology in order to make the earliest and most accurate diagnosis of Glaucoma. These computerized imaging systems are located right in our office so that they are convenient for our patients. Our Optic Nerve Computer Imaging systems include:
OCT or Ocular Coherence Tomography
The OCT uses a method called “optical coherence tomography” that is capable of creating digital images through the use of special beams of light in order to create a contour map of the optic nerve and measure the retinal nerve fiber thickness.
The goal of Optic Nerve Computer Imaging is to give the eye doctors at Coastal Eye Care the ability to detect the slightest loss of optic nerve fibers, at the firs possible moment, in order to diagnose Glaucoma at the earliest possible stage in order to stop the progession of the disease and preserve your vision.
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Pachymetry Measurement of Corneal Thickness
The National Eye Institute of the National Institutes of Health released an important study in 2002, called the Ocular Hypertension Study (OHTS) (http://www.nei.nih.gov/glaucomaeyedrops/). In this study an important finding occurred regarding corneal thickness and its role in Intraocular Pressure and the development of Glaucoma.
The OHTS study found that corneal thickness is important because it can alter the accuracy of the measurement of Intraocular Pressure, potentially causing doctors to treat you for a condition that may not actually exist or to treat you unnecessarily when are normal. Your actual Intraocular Pressure may be UNDERESTIMATED if you have thin corneas and it may be OVERESTIMATED if you have thicker corneas.
During your Glaucoma examination, your eye doctor at Coastal Eye Care may perform a Pachymetry Test to measure your corneal thickness as part of your examination and consider this finding in conjunction with the other Glaucoma testing in order to make the accurate diagnosis.
The Pachymetry Test is a simple, quick and painless way of accurately measuring your coneal thickness that our doctors do right in our office. The test is performed by first placing some drops in your eyes to make them numb and then lighty touching the cornea with a “pencil like” probe that uses sound waves to precisely measure your corneal thickness.
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Glaucoma is a very complex eye disease, and not simply an elevated Intraocular Pressure (IOP). Nonetheless, when detected early it can be successfully treated. At Coastal Eye Care in Maine, our eye physicians and staff provide the full scope of advanced technology diagnostic testing and treatment, as well as taking the time necessary to give each patient the personal education needed to fully understand their condition in order to get the best possible outcomes for our patients.
Coastal Eye Care provides advanced testing for the diagnosis and treatment of Glaucoma in Maine and is conveniently located for Eastern Maine and Downeast Maine eye care patients from Addison, Bangor, Bass Harbor, Bar Harbor, Belfast, Blue Hill, Brewer, Brooklin, Brooksville, Bucksport, Calais, Camden, Castine, Cherryfield, Columbia Falls, Deer Isle, Dennysville, Dexter Dover-Foxcroft, East Machias, Eastport, Ellsworth, Franklin, Hampden, Harrington, Hulls Cove, Jonesboro, Jonesport, Lincoln, Lincolnville, Lubec, Machias, Machiasport, Milbridge, Mount Desert, Northeast Harbor, Old Town, Orono, Orrington, Pembroke, Penobscot, Rockland, Rockport, Seal Harbor, Searsport, Sedgwick, Southwest Harbor, Stockton Springs, Stonington, Surry, Swans Island, Whitneyville, Winter Harbor, Winterport, Maine. To schedule an appointment for a Glaucoma evaluation, please call Coastal Eye Care in Maine at 207.667.6300.
