Eye pain was mistakenly thought to be caused by high blood pressure, but it turned out to be acute glaucoma induced by cold weather

A few days ago, 60-year-old Ms. Gao suddenly felt pain in her temples and felt nauseous and wanted to vomit. She thought it was caused by high blood pressure. Later, because she could hardly see, she went to the hospital for treatment. It turned out that she had an acute glaucoma attack. On December 2, Ms. Gao, whose symptoms were relieved after surgery, used her own personal experience to remind the public that if you have eye pain, you must check for glaucoma.

Recently, Ms. Gao had eye pain that was so painful that it made her heart ache. At first, she thought it was just the cold weather and high blood pressure, so she put it off for more than half a month. Until recently, she found that when she covered her right eye, she could only see a black shadow in front of her left eye, so she hurried to the Aier Eye Hospital affiliated to Wuhan University for treatment.

After examination, Ms. Gao's left eye vision was only index, and the intraocular pressure was as high as 55mmHg, far beyond the normal range (10mmHg-21mmHg), which was acute angle-closure glaucoma. Through surgical treatment, her headache and vomiting symptoms were relieved, and the intraocular pressure was also controlled.

Wu Zuohong, director of the hospital's glaucoma department, said that cold weather causes blood vessels to contract, which can block the drainage of aqueous humor and increase intraocular pressure. In addition, the shorter daylight hours, cold and damp days, and pupil dilation can also make it more difficult for aqueous humor to drain, creating a double impact. Therefore, winter has always been a high incidence period for acute glaucoma.

Director Wu Zuohong said that when glaucoma attacks, in addition to feeling eye pain, red eyes, and sudden blurred vision, patients are often accompanied by symptoms such as headache, nausea, and vomiting. Therefore, many people often mistakenly think that it is hypertension or acute gastroenteritis at the beginning, and delay medical treatment for many days, resulting in damage to the optic nerve or even blindness. He reminded that when middle-aged and elderly people experience symptoms such as migraine and sore nose, they must not be underestimated, and wrong measures should be taken to delay treatment. They should go to the ophthalmology department in time to prevent misdiagnosis and irreversible visual function damage. Patients over 40 years old with a family history of glaucoma, high hyperopia, diabetes, hypertension, etc., should seek medical attention in time to check for glaucoma if they have symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, dizziness, discomfort, and eye pain.