It's relatively rare that increased intraocular pressure would cause any sort of pain within your eye. Most of the time, this condition is discovered by your optometrist during a routine eye exam. Often referred to as ocular hypertension, this abnormal pressure doesn't usually cause disturbances in your vision unless you neglect to follow the recommended management.
Identification
Everyone has a certain amount of pressure that naturally occurs within their eyes. The level of this pressure ranges from person to person, but a reading of anywhere between 10 to 21 mm Hg (millimeters of mercury) is considered healthy. Once this pressure escalates above this range, you're suffering from ocular hypertension.
Significance
Just having an increased amount of pressure in your eye doesn't necessarily mean you're suffering from some type of disease. It's quite possible for pressure to increase due to an overproduction of eye fluid, a blockage in your eye's drainage system or some other unknown reason. However, this abnormal pressure can be an indication of glaucoma, which is a disease of the eye that may lead to nerve damage and vision loss.
Features
When the pressure in the eye becomes too great (which varies from person to person, much like the standard eye pressure), it can actually cause damage to the optic nerve, leading to the onset of glaucoma. If this were to happen, you'll most likely experience symptoms of this particular condition and need prompt treatment to slow the progression of the disease.
Symptoms
As mentioned before, there really aren't any discernible symptoms for high eye pressure. When symptoms do develop, it's an indication of an underlying condition such as glaucoma. With glaucoma, symptoms often include actual eye pain, red eyes, nausea, vomiting, vision loss (starting in your peripheral), blurred vision, light distortion and other visual disturbances.
Treatment
If you're suffering from high eye pressure, treatment isn't usually necessary. You will, however, need to come in for follow-up visits to ensure that the pressure hasn't increased and damage hasn't occurred to the optic nerve. Diagnosis of glaucoma brings with it medicated eye drops, prescription drugs and surgical procedures.
History
Any person can suffer from elevated intraocular pressure, but it's more commonly seen as you age or if you have a family history of glaucoma. African-Americans are more likely to experience both ocular hypertension and glaucoma.
