Jim_P_Pulfrew
XGE
- 931
- 0
- 16
If you haven’t been for a while please go and get your eyes tested at an Opticians, and if like me you are over 40, insist on the bit which measures your eyeball internal pressure. It is a tiny bit of discomfort as they blast of air straight into your eye and is a bloody nuisance, because if you blink too fast they have to keep doing it until they get a reading - but insist and persist you must.
I have just been diagnosed with Glaucoma. It was discovered at a routine eye test though thankfully in the very early stages. However, I have lost nearly 2% of my field of vision in one eye due to the high pressure damaging my optic nerve. I was surprised as I expected a blank patch, but your brain compensates very well until it is too late and you are practically blind. The blindness is not reversible. They call it the Silent Sight Thief because without IOP testing you will not know how blind you have become until it is too late.
Contrary to popular belief, high eyeball pressure has absolutely nothing to do with blood pressure. My BP is in the normal range and always has been but my left eye pressure is high.
I will have to do eye drops daily for the rest of my life, but that is an absolutely miniscule price to pay for the ability to see my kids and grandkids grow up.
So please, please, please if you haven’t been tested recently, go and book the test. Serving and ex-service people are probably the worse demographic in the country for not wanting to make a fuss, and putting things that don’t properly hurt to the backs of our minds. I was a prime culprit of the ‘just get on with it’ culture. But this has given me a kick in the seat and I am just want to spread the word, as I am one of the lucky ones.
Jimps
I have just been diagnosed with Glaucoma. It was discovered at a routine eye test though thankfully in the very early stages. However, I have lost nearly 2% of my field of vision in one eye due to the high pressure damaging my optic nerve. I was surprised as I expected a blank patch, but your brain compensates very well until it is too late and you are practically blind. The blindness is not reversible. They call it the Silent Sight Thief because without IOP testing you will not know how blind you have become until it is too late.
Contrary to popular belief, high eyeball pressure has absolutely nothing to do with blood pressure. My BP is in the normal range and always has been but my left eye pressure is high.
I will have to do eye drops daily for the rest of my life, but that is an absolutely miniscule price to pay for the ability to see my kids and grandkids grow up.
So please, please, please if you haven’t been tested recently, go and book the test. Serving and ex-service people are probably the worse demographic in the country for not wanting to make a fuss, and putting things that don’t properly hurt to the backs of our minds. I was a prime culprit of the ‘just get on with it’ culture. But this has given me a kick in the seat and I am just want to spread the word, as I am one of the lucky ones.
Jimps