Eye pressure test 33- can this be a fluke?

[Lovelygreen24]

I had a routine eye test and the pressure test came out as 33. I never really knew what this test was for, but the optometrist shocked me a bit by saying he was going to phone the hospital if it didn't get lower in 20 mins!

When we redid it 20 mins later and it had gone down to 25, and they said I was fine to go.

Has anyone else had this before? I do drink a lot of coffee and have been a bit stressed so I'm hoping it's just that, but Google seems to say that stress can't cause eye pressure

I drink a lot of coffee and I have low pressures - I have varied between 12 -17 for 30 or so years. My eye specialist was very clear it had no relationship with blood pressure or stress. I think you need to be seen by a specialist. I was a glaucoma suspect because I have abnormal optic nerves and that's why I have a yearly laser scan and a full eye exam with a glaucoma specialist every year (and six monthly in the beginning when things looked pretty dire). High eye pressures can damage the optic nerves but things can be done.

I'm not a doc, but I believe ocular pressure over 21 is known as ocular hypertension, and represents a potential risk for glaucoma.
Stress doesn't cause ocular hypertension, and even people with high blood pressure (hypertension) don't always have ocular hypertension.
As PP says, would be a good idea to have an eye exam with a specialist.

33 and much higher is indeed a thing. It can be an indicator of glaucoma, so you need to keep a careful check on that.

Thanks @Sablecat , I didn't know there was such a thing as an eye specialist...I thought that was the optometrist! Feel embarrassed how little I know about this stuff!

That is still quite high. Do you go to the same optician regularly? As a one off its nothing to worry about but if it's always that high its a risk factor for glaucoma.

Opthalmologist is what you want (eye doctor) Optometrists are healthcare professionals but not medical docs. Worth an appointment if you're worried as you don't want to muck about with your eye health. Take care!

@helpfulperson it's my first appointment in about 10 years, so I suppose it doesn't matter, but I remember it was a normal reading then.

I might make an opthalmologist appointment then just to be on the safe side.
Thanks everyone

I had a high pressure reading once and they were going to refer me to the eye clinic at the hospital but then the pressure was lower on the next visit so they didn't. That was maybe ten years ago and it's been fine ever since. I have glaucoma in the family but only so far in a grandparent. My mum has an appointment for high pressure though but the waiting list seems to be rather long at the moment.

With pressures that high (even with the drop), I'd at the very least expect a conversation about a shorter recall for your next eye examination to monitor. As PPs have said- time of day/caffeine intake/stress can all impact the readings.

Sometimes high pressures are just physiological (can be due to thicker than average corneas or narrow angle between the cornea and iris)- but if you have narrow angles I would again expect some sort^ of discussion about symptoms to look out for/monitoring.^

Did you have an OCT scan and/or visual field test?

They would/should have referred you at 25 though.
I would contact them tomorrow, just to check.
25 is over the referral criteria for all of the Uk.