A HEALTHY YOU
Protect Your Vision
Learn the Signs of Glaucoma
January is Glaucoma Awareness month. Glaucoma is a leading cause of vision loss and blindness in the United States yet as many as half of people with glaucoma aren’t aware they have it. This is mostly because Glaucoma has no early symptoms. Glaucoma is a progressive eye disease, meaning that if left untreated, vision loss resulting from glaucoma can worsen with time and eventually may lead to blindness. The disease can damage a large part of your optic nerve before it ever becomes apparent in your peripheral vision loss.
High eye pressure, or elevated intraocular pressure (IOP), is a common cause of glaucoma. Eye pressure cannot be felt so in the early stages of the disease, glaucoma typically does not have any symptoms and can often go undiagnosed without routine eye exams.
Should you or someone you know be concerned about glaucoma, visit the National Eye Institute for information about glaucoma, questions for the doctor, and a glaucoma symptom tracker.
Glaucoma.org provides useful information for managing and treating this eye disease, including managing glaucoma in the workplace and how to optimize the work environment when dealing with this disease. Glaucoma-related workplace challenges can include eye strain from prolonged screen use, difficulty with peripheral vision in the office, or problems adjusting to various lights. Communicating with your employer about your condition can be a useful strategy for dealing with glaucoma in the workplace.
Glaucoma.org also provides lots of resources on workplace strategies for dealing with glaucoma in the workplace, including implementing the 20-20-20 rule recommended by the American Academy of Ophthalmology: Every 20 minutes, look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds or use tools to support vision, such as Screen Magnification software or Text-to-speech programs. Positioning your screen at eye level to reduce strain and being aware of the lighting in your workplace are a few simple strategies to take.
Other Resources
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About the Author
Cynthia Conigliaro has been in the field of health and wellness for over 25 years. She has a BA in Psychology from College of the Holy Cross and graduate degrees in Social Work (MSW) and Business (MBA) with a focus in both Leadership and Marketing from Boston College.
Cynthia is the founder of her corporate wellness presentation business Work Well Webinars, a company that designs and delivers wellness presentations virtually and in person to companies, schools, hospitals, libraries and groups across the country. Cynthia’s wellness presentations span body, mind and spirit as she takes a holistic approach to wellness.
For the past six years Cynthia has been an active volunteer at the Worksite Wellness Council of Massachusetts (WWCMA) where she is on both the Programs and Marketing committees. Cynthia is an Ambassador for the Corridor 9/495 Chamber of Commerce and sits on the Programs Committee for the chamber. Cynthia volunteers at All Paths as an Infertility Support Group Leader and Facilitator coaching resilience, stress management and mindfulness for women dealing with infertility and pregnancy loss.