Glaucoma is an eye disease caused by a buildup of intraocular pressure (IOP). Your eyes have clear liquid that flows in and out, but if you have glaucoma, this liquid doesn’t drain properly, causing this buildup of IOP pressure. As glaucoma progresses, it damages more and more of your optic nerve fibers, leading to vision loss.

With primary open-angle glaucoma, the fluid can’t effectively flow back out of your eye. In many cases, people don’t even know that they have glaucoma until they experience vision loss.

Angle-closure glaucoma occurs when the iris of the eye closes off the drainage angle completely, causing an increase in IOP pressure and damage to the optic nerve.

If you have a condition known as ocular hypertension, which is a result of high ocular pressure, your risk of developing glaucoma increases.

Glaucoma treatment is centered around lowering your IOP in order to prevent further vision loss. Drops are the first line of treatment of glaucoma.