Health A-Z

Medical Content Created by the Faculty of the
Harvard Medical School

Glaucoma

Symptoms

Although open angle glaucoma and acute glaucoma both cause blindness, their symptoms are very different.

• Open angle glaucoma — In this form of glaucoma, vision is lost painlessly and so gradually that most people do not realize they have a problem until substantial damage has occurred. Peripheral vision (at the edges) is usually lost first, especially the field of vision near your nose. As larger areas of your peripheral vision fade, you may develop tunnel vision — vision that has narrowed so you see only what is directly in front of you, like looking through a railroad tunnel. If glaucoma is not treated, even this narrowed vision disappears into blindness. Once gone, areas of lost vision cannot be restored.

• Acute glaucoma (closed angle glaucoma) — Symptoms of acute glaucoma occur suddenly and can include blurred vision, pain and redness in the eye, severe headache, halos around lights at night, a haziness in the cornea (the clear front portion of the eye in front of the pupil), nausea and vomiting, and extreme weakness.