High pressure in right eye, need another test

[LibbyL92]

Hello everyone. I hope this is ok to post here. And if anyone can give me some advice/reassuring I would massively appreciate it.

I had an eye test yesterday. Everything looked ok, but the puff test (which I’m really bad at and struggle with) showed as high in my right eye. They tried again half hour later, it was slightly lower. But still (not sure how high) so they want me to try again next week.

I’ve since come home and started Googling and I’m completely besides myself with worry, convinced I’ll be blind or have a tumour.

I do have allergic rhinitis in my nose, could this be linked to high pressure in my eye? I do get a lot of headaches as well.

She said everything else was fine, looked healthy and no prescription needed.I also had a fields test to check side vision and that was ok.

I’m 28 and otherwise healthy.
I’ve had eye tests twice before and I failed them both times too with the puff test. 10years ago, they re did it and it was fine. And 12 months ago they told me to come back but then lockdown happened ect..

Could it also just be I flinch every time I do it? I really struggle... or should I be worried.. sorry to waffle on but I’m really scared.

Im sure if the optician was very concerned you would have been sent to the eye hospital .
A few years ago I had high pressure at a routine eye test & like you I was worried sick I went back a week later & it had gone down .
I know it’s easier said than done but please don’t Google you’ll freak yourself out , good luck when you go back I’m sure all will be fine 💐💐

Applejack, thank you so much for your reply. It’s really reassuring. I’m going to try and get through these next few days and hope for the best.

Thank you x

I have border line high pressures in both eyes and have had for years, I’ve been referred to hospital a couple of times but nothing was ever found. I just have to have the pressures checked every 6 months (in theory!)

Thank you HenniPenni, that’s really reassuring to hear! Fingers crossed it’s the same for me, and is nothing to be worried about

High pressure can be a sign of glaucoma or ocular hypertension. Very high pressure can be acute glaucoma but if your pressure was very high you would have been sent to hospital there and then. There are guidelines above which high pressure needs to be referred/investigated further, your optician is probably arranging to check it again in the hope that it will be normal next time. If not it would likely just be a routine referral to an eye specialist cos that’s what the guidelines say - usually these referrals don’t come to anything cos the high pressure is not a cause for concern.

Hi op! I am 32 and have ocular hypertension. It is treated with beta blockers in the form of eye drops. It doesn't have to be serious (lead to glaucoma) if you catch and treat it early and have regular check ups. The stories of people going blind are because it wasn't identified and so went untreated for many years.

The reason you get different readings is because pressure changes depending on the time of the day.

There isn't anything you can do to prevent it such as diet change etc. you just have to monitor and take the drops.

There is also a surgery, which I am considering, because the drops have a few side effects

My appointment is tomorrow at 9am, just hoping it’s come down. I can’t help but worry, but having read your advice it’s definitely put me at ease!

I will let you know how things go.

Only thing that worries me is the last two times I went (over 8 years and 18 months) both times I had high pressure. First time they re done there and then and it came back ok. Second time they asked me to go back the next day and I didn’t because of work and Covid. So there’s that slight doubt.

Fingers crossed whatever it is; it’s not as bad as I’m thinking!

• Tigertubbie, can I ask what the side effects are?

Hi OP, try not to worry. As PPs have said, if they’d had any serious concerns you’d have been sent straight to hospital. There’s high pressure and there’s high pressure. I think eyes are supposed to be under 10 or 12 or something, so a bit high is probably nothing to worry about. If your pressure was 50 like mine was, I can absolutely assure you you would know.

If you’ve not had any visual disturbances and you’ve not been feeling ill then don’t worry, it’s probably nothing to worry about.

Pressure tends to be higher in the mornings than the afternoon. What time was your last appointment? I tend to book repeat pressure appointments in the afternoon to try and establish if it is high all day or just earlier in the day.

Hi Alocasia,

Thank you for this. My appointment was at 2pm. I was asked to come in at 9am tomorrow. In the past they’ve always been in the later afternoon.

I do have allergic rhinitis as well. So my sinuses are blocked. Could this contribute to it?

I had the same as you when I was about your age - I had to go back to opticians to have the pressures tested again after they found it high at a regular eye check. It was still high so got referred to the hospital. I was terrified of glaucoma etc and had lots of thorough checks at the hospital but there was nothing other than I have high eye pressures. I am mid 40s now and just have my eyes checked every year or so and it's still high but have never been referred again. I also struggle with the test massively and also have problems with sinuses so it may all be related?

Hey ErmieMum!

Ahh this is really reassuring! Thank you for posting.
I did google and read something about sinuses, it think it could well be. I’m definitely going to ask them tomorrow and see what they say.

Can I just ask what tests were done at the hospital?

@LibbyL92 i get sleep paralysis, wake up several times confused and frozen to the spot, and then feel groggy/almost hungover in the morning.

My doctor told me that the side effects rare though. I'm on a lower dose - she asked me to persevere and see if it gets better.

@LibbyL92 - I can't recall much as it was a while ago but there was one where they touched some kind of machine to the front of my eyeball to measure the pressures that way! I guess similar to the puff test but more high tec. I am so squeamish about eyes and was terrified but I seem to recall it wasn't so bad. Thinking about it now the pressures aren't even mentioned / they either aren't as high or it's just accepted that it's high. I have an eye test in a few weeks nd this has prompted me to ask about it again!

@LibbyL92 I also recall now that they said their tool for doing the eye pressure at hospital was more precise and they often saw people who just needed it double checked. The puff test can Produce false readings or similar. I think I also had anaesthetic drops first - it's all coming back to me now!

@tigertubbie oh wow! Those are quite some symptoms. I’m sure they’ll settle down eventually though! Hope it gets better for you.

@ErmieMum haha thank you! I can’t tell you how much this is helping me. I’m a real drama queen with anything health related, especially since Covid. I just think worse case scenario.

Let me know how you get on with your eye test in a few weeks!

In the back of my mind I kinda feel like my readings were wrong because I was such a nightmare with doing it.

@LibbyL92 no problem! I hope all goes well for you too - I recall being exactly the same. I totally jump and shut my eye on the puff test so was convinced that's why it comes out high! I hate it!

@LibbyL92 At the hospital they have a couple of different machines for testing pressure. They have a little hand held thing that quickly touches the surface of your eye. Then they have one where they give you some numbing drops then push a machine onto the front of your eye. Don’t worry, you won’t feel it. I can’t remember which is more accurate but they’re both more accurate than the test at Spec Savers.

@Whatisthisfuckery thank you! That’s really good to know

Hey everyone, so I went this morning and still high :( they want me to go back on Saturday morning and have numbing drops out into my eye and the little machine touches my eye to get a better reading.

I really don’t know how I feel about this. I’m worried about the eye drops and test. I struggle with my eyes anyway so I don’t know how I’ll cope with this.

Fields test came back fine (again) but there still pressure in my right eye from the pufff test.

Can anyone who’s had this procedure done at the opticians tell me their experience? The eye drops? Machine? How did you manage to keep your eye open?

Do you know what your reading was? Again, the fact that they haven’t sent you straight to hospital is a good thing.

The eyedrops are numbing drops. Don’t worry, they don’t hurt at all. They’ll sit you in front of that big machine thing they have and you’ll put your chin on the chin rest, then they’ll adjust their machine to gently touch the surface of your eye. Your eye will have been numbed by the drops so it won’t hurt, you won’t really feel it, the most you’ll feel is a bit of gentle pressure against the front of your eye.

The numbing drops don’t sting, promise. The only drops I’ve had that sting a bit, and I have had pretty much every eye drop the eye hospital has to offer, multiple times, are the dilating drops, but even they only sting a bit for a second.

It’s all not scary, don’t worry. If they suspected glaucoma or anything like you’d have been straight down the hospital.

Oh, and when they put the drops in just look up, it’ll be over in a second. When you look up it create a little pocket between the bottom of the eye and the lid for the drops to go into. Just look up real hard and you won’t reflexively close your eye.

Again though, they don’t hurt and it’s not scary. I have had just about every eye drop imaginable, every eye test, scan exam and investigation going, several surgeries and more, and the pressure test ranks somewhere between 0 and 0.01 on the dread scale.

@Whatisthisfuckery I can’t remember what they were she said they were slightly higher. She did say not to worry and sometimes people can just have high pressure. And everything else looks absolutely fine. No vision loss or anything. I think she could tell by my face I’m definitely freaking out.

Thank you! How long does the numbing last? I’m scared they’ll do something bad to my eye or something. I really just want to fast forward to Saturday to get this procedure out of the way. I do suffer with a lot of headaches, but I always have done! I was put it down to hormones and dehydration, and my sinuses.

How long does that procedure take? Is it quick?