Eye Pressure

I am reading this study now. I like the fact that they did investigate ocular perfusion pressure (OPP) while monitoring the intraocular pressure (IOP) during this study, and that they checked IOP in the sleeping position (rather than sitting the patient up). So, with a quick glance, the methodology looks acceptable to me.

Purpose: To determine whether a 30-degree head-up sleeping position decreases nocturnal intraocular pressure (IOP) compared with lying flat in patients with glaucoma.

Design: Prospective, nonrandomized comparative case series.

Participants: Seventeen eyes of 17 patients with glaucoma with controlled IOP and new disc hemorrhage.

Recently here on FitEyes, readers have asked about the relationship between intraocular pressure about meditation. That prompted me to write this post about some of the broader spiritual aspects of what I do as well as how I view intraocular pressure in my own life and in my work as a Serene Impulse teacher.

Meditation and spirituality are often perceived as soft, delicate, wishy-washy, "New Agie", etc. My own approach is hard-core and scientific. It is also great fun. The path is filled with bliss and love -- and lots of IOP data!

Can you please tell me why TM is not good for Glaucoma.

Dianne

Glaucoma is known as the silent thief of sight because (in its common forms) there is no pain and no other symptoms until the damage has been done.

I don't have glaucoma, I have high IOP due to prolonged use of steroid drops. I know when the pressure is high, I can feel it. Firstly I get a pulsing, this means the pressure is up to about 25-30 then I get feelings of pressure and lastly if i blink fast I can see black striations in the shape of my iris.

I do use once a week lemon drop, it has rules to do it. the lemon should be fresh and you cut it with a clean knife , and it should be at night before bed time. I squeeze one drop in each eye. and when Iwent to the dr. it droped from 21 to 14 which is great. I know it hurts a lot for few seconds then I feel cool in my eyes. " I wonder if anyone tried this"? I got the from my 90 years aunt who died and she had 20/20 eye vision and can thread the string in the needle.

Yesterday I saw some discussions that reminded me of the profound discovery I made several years ago in my own intraocular pressure data. I observed, time and time again, that simply disagreeing with another individual in an online forum would raise my intraocular pressure. (This effect does not require arguing -- simply disagreeing in a polite manner is often enough.) This is a universal phenomenon.

Someone just emailed this question to my inbox. I'm replying here on the FitEyes forum.
 

Hi,

I emailed you awhile ago about self-tonometry and am again interested after reading these messages here on FitEyes.com.

I have mixed gluacoma: some optic nerve cupping on both eyes. My doctor keeps recommending surgery in my left eye, but I do not want to go with that option yet.

Is there a specialist you know of in [my city] that will allow me to self monitor my eye pressure?

Well, I’ve had another interesting observation.

For the past several years, I’ve been taking my prostaglandin analogue, Travatan Z, at night right before going to bed as directed by my ophthalmologist.  However, having been startled by the high levels of my nocturnal IOP, I started researching ways to lower it.  

Author’s Note:  I have been practicing self-tonometry now for about three weeks with a Reichert 7 NCT.

For the past 9 years, I have been supplementing with glucosamine chondroitin to ward off joint issues due to an intense daily exercise regimen.  I’ll never know for sure whether this supplement works as advertised since I began taking it as a preventative measure and to this day do not suffer from joint pain.  However, when I read recently on the internet that chondroitin can possibly make matters worse for glaucoma patients, I dropped the supplement overnight and did not wean myself off it.  This action may have led to the unintended result which I describe below.

Glaucoma is the leading cause of irreversible blindness in the world. Diagnosis and management of glaucoma is significantly associated with intraocular pressure, but contemporary office-based measurements are not sufficient to discover diurnal changes and spikes, nor do they demonstrate the effect of medication and compliance. Patient-directed self-tonometry can be taken throughout the day and is therefore the subject of much discussion and research. In this article we review the history of self-tonometry devices and present technologies for the future.
   
Surv Ophthalmol. 2009 Jul-Aug;54(4):450-62.
    .
Liang SY, Lee GA, Shields D.
City Eye Centre, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

I think the following list represents some of the most informative and useful articles on FitEyes.com. There are thousands of articles on FitEyes.com, so many good ones will not be on this list. But this list is a good place to start reading if you are new to FitEyes.com. If you are not new to our site, please make sure you have seen these articles.

Please feel welcome to add comments to this post to mention your own favorite articles on FitEyes.com.

Department of Optometry and Vision Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.

PURPOSE: To determine whether there is an association between dietary omega-3 (omega-3) fatty acid intake, age, and intraocular pressure (IOP) caused by altered aqueous outflow.

Background

With the increasing number of people participating in physical aerobic exercise, jogging in particular, we considered that it would be worth knowing if there are should be limits to the exercise with regard to the intraocular pressure (IOP) of the eyes. The purpose of this study is to check IOP in healthy and primary glaucoma patients after aerobic exercise.

Methods

I am trying right now to get a feel of my pressure by just touchng the eyes with my index fingers. I can tell if it's high or low but I would like to become very accurate with the help of a tonometer. Which one do you recommend and what the difference in mg with for example a Goldman, Thanks.

Hi,
I just found your blog -- it is quite interesting. I have pigmentary glaucoma diagnosed ten years ago.

Here is my second question: Are there any accurate HOME tonometers out there that don't cost a fortune?

Thank you,
DB

Question: Can pushing on the eyeball shortly before getting a goldmann reading give a lower than normal pressure reading?

Dennis