I have glaucoma at a very young age?

I'm 13 and my eye doctor said that I have glaucoma.I want to know everything about it please.
Also if I have glaucoma, would there be anyone in my family that has it?

Did glaucoma trigger my nearsightedness or did my nearsightedness trigger my glaucoma?

I'm 14 1/2 right now, and I was born with glaucoma. My prescription is pretty high, so my eyesight is not that great.

When going to your eye doctor's office, you will get some eye-pressure check-ups, to make sure your eye pressure is at a good place. With glaucoma, liquid in your eyes cause pressure, and if there's too much, it can lead to blindness. There's two different types of glaucoma. My kind is incredibly rare, since most people get glaucoma in their 40's or so. Some glaucoma is congenital, and you could have inherited it from a family member.

I don't know how bad your eyes are yet, but for me, I have to take eye drops 4 times a day. It's pretty aggravating, and it's not good to skip it. Even if it takes a minute or so, DO NOT skip the medication. I (unfortunatley) skipped about a weeks worth of drops, and my eyesight got worse. Way worse. You may consider surgery, but WAIT until you're older. Your eyes are still growing, so my doctor suggested (at least told me) to wait until I'm in my mid-twenties or so. That way, your eye doctor knows how your eyes are reacting to this glaucoma.

You might have SOME side effects. For me, I get headaches, nausea, or get tired about once or twice a month. For every person, side effects and the such are different. Some people don't even have any side effects, and let's hope you won't have to suffer.

I'm sure there are some websites that tell you more about glaucoma. I was telling you about my experiences with glaucoma and how I deal with it, and you may too. Go ahead and ask your eye doctor about glaucoma. He'll know all the details and such, and will be glad to inform you about it.

Hope this helped a bit! And good luck with your glaucoma!

Yes, this IS a very young age to have glaucoma -- but it's not entirely out of the question either.

First, I would recommend getting another opinion. Be certain that you see an Ophthalmologist for this, and NOT an Optometrist. A second eval could be the most important thing you do right now.

Even without family history, one can have glaucoma. It's more a condition of insufficiency or physical irregularities in the eye. There are different types, so often...the treatment is quite different as well as the risks.

I've included a link below that may be of help.

Best of luck

Glaucoma is a inherited disease.You could just be a glaucoma suspect becuase of the abnormally large cupping of the optic nerve. Read on....... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glaucoma