What is Ocular Hypertension?

Ocular hypertension is a condition occurring in the eyes that suggests people are at far greater risks for other eye problems and especially for developing glaucoma. Since glaucoma can severely damage vision if not caught until later stages, having a way to screen for ocular hypertension may make very good sense. A visual screening can evaluate eye pressure or intraocular pressure, which is essentially a measure of fluid in the eye and how that fluid leaves the eye. If this is uneven, as measured by the designation mm HG, a high pressure status situation can exist in the eye, predisposing people to more serious visual conditions.

There are vision conditions that may cause higher pressure in the eye, but when the pressure alone is the only symptom, and a person doesn’t have other vision problems or glaucoma, this is typically called ocular hypertension, or high glaucoma risk. To prevent onset of glaucoma or of other rare problems that may occur, doctors may carefully watch hypertension and they could also treat it medically.

The one thing that is unfortunate about ocular hypertension is that it usually doesn’t have any symptoms. People won’t necessarily know that they have it unless they’re screened for it. To this end, it’s usually recommended that people under 40 get vision screenings every few years, and those who are older than 40, get screened once a year. An individual who has a higher risk factor may need screening more regularly, in earlier life. Those with family history of glaucoma or diseases that might result in it and especially people of African descent are much more at risk and need more frequent vision exams.

If a higher pressure is found, doctors may determine what to do based on their findings. If the number is normal they might check again in a few months, without administering treatment. But when ocular hypertension is severe, there can be several means of addressing the issue. Many times people must use medicines in the eye that will reduce intraocular pressure. There are also surgeries that could be performed that help bring readings down to a normal level. Risk versus benefits of medicine versus surgeries vary and should be discussed in depth with an ophthalmologist.

In addition to reducing ocular hypertension, doctors will usually view intraocular pressure as a strong precursor to glaucoma, though it should be stated that glaucoma doesn’t always develop. The risk is certainly elevated, and doctors can set up plans with patients to decide how often they should recheck the eyes to assess for glaucoma developing. Moreover, other conditions that may result from intraocular pressure may be watched, including the potentially sight damaging blockage of retinal veins that occurs in a small percentage of people with this high pressure in the eyes.