Support for Glaucoma

Because there is no cure for glaucoma, managing the disease is something you need to do for a lifetime. If you’ve been diagnosed with glaucoma, it’s important to have regular follow-up visits with your NYU Langone eye specialist so your condition can be monitored for any changes. If managed properly, most people never lose their sight from the disease. 

Visual Rehabilitation

Sometimes, even with aggressive treatment, glaucoma can cause some degree of irreversible vision loss. If this is the case, it’s natural to feel frustrated or nervous about day-to-day living with compromised vision. At NYU Langone’s Rusk Rehabilitation, our occupational therapists and physiatrists, or doctors who specialize in rehabilitation medicine, collaborate with your eye doctor to help you adjust. 

They can recommend strategies to assist you with your daily activities, such as reading, writing, cooking, shopping, and moving about safely in your community and at home.

For people who have some vision loss because of glaucoma, our visual rehabilitation specialists can help you obtain and learn to use low-vision adaptive technology. This might include screen readers that identify and interpret material on a digital screen and convert it from text to speech; large-button keyboards for easier typing; and magnification software that assists with reading when the text is beyond the scope of one’s near vision on computers and electronic devices. 

Other adaptive devices include magnifiers you can hold in your hands or wear on your head. They can enlarge images from the television, for instance, or even enhance your vision at a sporting event. 

Telescopic devices worn over your glasses can help enlarge objects in front of you. Special eyeglasses equipped with prisms can assist with your peripheral vision and help you avoid obstacles, bringing the area of your visual world that may be missing into your remaining vision.

NYU Langone’s team of glaucoma specialists is committed to helping you preserve vision throughout your life. Our team can answer any questions you may have after treatment, procedures, or surgery, and provide the follow-up care you need as you resume your daily activities.