AboutDr Anand Shroff, MD, FICS Expertise I can answer any question on eye care, expertise in Laser eye surgery, LASIK, Epi LASIK, cataract, glaucoma, keratoconus- corneal collagen crosslinking.
Experience OF LASIK, we are one of the first centres to use the wavefront guided LASIK or custom LASIK procedures. I train doctors worldwide for these wavefront procedures, our centre is the referral centre for our Wavelight Laser Technologies, Germany in India.
Organizations ASCRS [American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery]certified by USA- Joint Commission International
Publications http://www.shroffeye.org
Education/Credentials MD Ophthalmology and FICS [Fellow of the International College of Surgeons]
Awards and Honors please see http://www.shroffeye.org and www.lasikindia.in
Question A couple of months ago, I was getting my eyes checked so that I could get contact lenses. When my ocular pressure was being checked, the doctor said that it was a little higher than the normal range and that this can be an indicator of glaucoma. I am 18 years old, so she also said that because of my age, it is very rare for me to have it. My father's family has a history of eye problems. When I did a little research, I found that glaucoma can also be caused by head trauma. About 5 years ago, I went ice skating. I fell backward and hit the back of my head on the ice, and for about 30 minutes to an hour (I'm not sure how long, because the only person with me at the time was my little cousin and the staff, who were a bunch of people only a few years older than me) I forgot my phone number, my parents' names, my brother's name, and my address. The staff put an ice pack on my head and asked me questions regarding how to contact someone to get me, and I could not remember anything that would answer their questions. As that half hour to an hour passed, I remembered little by little, and when my dad and uncle came to pick us up, I was okay; my head was just a little sore. I did not go to a doctor or anything to be checked up, but for about a year or two after that I was fine. I had headaches once in a while, but they started to become more and more frequent, and now my head hurts all the time. Some days, the pain is really dull, so it doesn't bother me too much, other days it hurts enough to bother me, and some days it hurts so much that I feel nauseous and cannot function normally. How likely is it for me to have glaucoma? And how do I figure out a way to get help? My doctor is my aunt, so she cannot be objective when treating me and she thinks my headaches are due to stress. I am on vacation right now, but I still have the same headaches.
Answer Dear Ridhi,
Glaucoma is a condition which can be diagnosed not by symptoms of headaches but checking the eye pressure, optic nerves etc, and if in doubt, repeating the tests to see if it was normal on the first visit.
You will need to follow up with your eye surgeon. It will be difficult to ascertain why you have increse in eye pressure (if showing any) even if you do give history of trauma, it will still be a ? cause.
However, in the follow up checks if your eye doctor rules out Glucoma and says that your eye pressure is normal, then you will have to look for alternate reasons for the headache which could be sinusitis, migraine, or a neurological cause. A good physician would help diagnose the issue.
In our hospital we do the SWAP test which is a very sensitive test to determine Glaucoma at its earliest stages. If in Mumbai, you are free to visit us for the same.
