Visual Field Damage

The visual field is what you can see both directly ahead of you and around the edges of your sight. If you suffer visual field damage, Arun Joseph, MD, and the other eye experts at Dallas Glaucoma Specialists in Allen, Texas, offer superior evaluation and treatment. They identify the cause of your symptoms and use cutting-edge treatments like laser therapy and microinvasive glaucoma surgery (MIGS) for visual field damage caused by glaucoma. Call Dallas Glaucoma Specialists today to schedule a consultation or request an appointment online for a prompt visual field damage evaluation.

What is visual field damage?

Your visual field is what you can see at any one time. Visual field damage means you’ve lost part of your usual field of vision — either the central vision (what you see in front of you) or the peripheral vision (what you see at the edges). It has many causes, including:

• Age-related macular degeneration
• Macular holes
• Optic neuropathy
• Leber’s optic atrophy
• Cone dystrophies
• Retinal artery occlusion
• Glaucoma
• Retinal detachment
• Chorioretinitis
• Branch retinal artery occlusion
• Retinitis pigmentosa
• Rare conditions like Best’s disease, chromatopsia, and Stargardt’s disease

Some visual field damage occurs suddenly, while other conditions take longer to develop. For example, retinal detachment onset is usually rapid, but age-related macular degeneration takes years.

What symptoms does visual field damage cause?

Visual field damage symptoms vary depending on your condition but may include the following:

• Floaters
• Flashes
• Black spots
• Blurs
• Difficulty seeing poorly lit objects
• Central visual tunnel
• Loss of left or right vision
• Loss of upper or lower vision
• A curtain across the visual field

Some visual field problems affect one eye, others both. Often, patients who believe only one eye is causing problems discover that both are affected, but one less so than the other. Sometimes visual field loss isn’t apparent to the patient at all, and they don’t realize how their sight has changed until the condition reaches an advanced stage.

What treatment might I need for visual field damage?

The treatment you require for your condition varies depending on its cause and severity. Dallas Glaucoma Specialists specialize in glaucoma treatments, which may include:

Medicated eye drops

Prescription eye drops use several methods to lower the high eye pressure that can cause glaucoma. Prostaglandins increase fluid outflow from your eye, while beta blockers and carbonic anhydrase inhibitors reduce fluid production. You may need to take oral medication as well.

Laser procedures

Laser treatments include trabeculoplasty and peripheral iridotomy. These treatments alter the drainage angle in your eye, so fluid flows more freely.

Surgery

Trabeculectomy creates space for fluid to drain from the eye. Drainage devices like the XEN® Gel Stent are tiny tubes your surgeon implants in the eye. MIGS procedures offer an alternative to trabeculectomy and drainage devices.

Call Dallas Glaucoma Specialists for comprehensive visual field damage treatment, or book an appointment using the online booking feature today.