Ocular hypertension causes and treatment

People with ocular hypertension have higher intraocular pressure (elevated IOP) than normal levels. A normal ocular pressure should between 10 mmHg and 21 mmHg. Ocular hypertension can only be detected by your eye care practitioner (ECP) using instruments, since it has no outward signs or symptoms. In most cases, the patients themselves can not realize this ocular problem. However, early detection of this abnormal ocular condition is absolutely important because some other problems may develop in parallel, e.g. optic nerve damage or visual field loss.

Possible reasons for ocular hypertension

It is true that ocular hypertension can be safe and may never cause any damage to the eye. However, it is commonly associated with glaucoma, which may cause vision loss and damage to optic nerve. Glaucoma-caused ocular hypertension may be detected only when the patient lies down, especially those patients with normal tension glaucoma. Moreover, medications (such as steroids) and trauma are also potential contributors to ocular hypertension. From another perspective, both excessive production of eye fluids and blocked or decreased fluids drainage can cause ocular hypertension.

People at risk and related eye care

Ocular hypertension occurs more frequently in certain groups, such as African-Americans, people over 40, those with a family history of ocular hypertension, individuals with glaucoma experience, diabetic patients and extremely myopic people. People with ocular hypertension are more probably to have glaucoma due to uncontrolled intraocular pressure (IOP). They should visit their doctors at certain interval for regular IOP measurements. If necessary, eye drops can be prescribed to lower high IOP.