Understanding glaucoma
Daily symptoms.
Glaucoma damages the optic nerve, most often through elevated eye pressure. It progressively destroys peripheral vision, ending in tunnel vision and sometimes blindness. The two main forms are open-angle (slow, silent) and closed-angle (fast, an emergency).
Tunnel vision
The field of view shrinks. You see what's in front of you, but the sides and corners disappear.
Bumping into things
Door frames, chairs, low tables: invisible at the edges, you hit them constantly.
Slow reading
To finish a sentence you must scan it letter by letter through the narrow remaining field.
Hard to move around
Stairs, sidewalks, crowded streets become risky because obstacles appear only at the last moment.