Does anyone have any experience with Glaucoma and whether training impacts the pressure in your eyes? I am 38, and I was diagnosed with Gloucoma this past Sugopring. I was training for CDA, and even with drugs, my pressure was around 24. I have been in my offseason from the end of October through today, and my eye pressure has been going down ever since; I am now down to 14.
My eye Dr is reasonably certain that my training was not impacting the eye pressure (although, I am not sure he really understands Ironman training), but he has no reason why the drugs would all of the sudden start working.
The urban legend about an endurance athlete going unconscience the ER, and having a misdiagnosis due to his naturally super low HR keeps popping into my mind.
Just wondering if anyone has any insight, not that I will stop training and racing. . 
E Green
At 44 years old, I was diagnosed with early stages of Glaucoma last week. I am super healthy with very low blood pressure and no family history of glaucoma. I have been swimming 3-4 times per week (7,500m -10,000m / week) for the last 9 years using Speedo Vanquisher googles. Today I started swimming with the Aquasphere Seal 2.0 mask. Have you heard of goggles causing glaucoma?
I came accros this 2007 paper titled: The Effect of Swimming Goggles on Intraocular Pressure and Blood Flow within the Optic Nerve Head. Conclusion: A small but significant intraocular pressure elevation was observed immediately after the swimming goggles were put on. This elevated intraocular pressure was maintained while the goggles were kept on, and then returned to normal levels as soon as they were taken off. Blood flow of the ONH did not change significantly throughout the experiment. These facts should be considered for safety concerns, especially in advanced glaucoma patients.
Does anyone have any experience with Glaucoma and whether training impacts the pressure in your eyes? I am 38, and I was diagnosed with Gloucoma this past Sugopring. I was training for CDA, and even with drugs, my pressure was around 24. I have been in my offseason from the end of October through today, and my eye pressure has been going down ever since; I am now down to 14.
My eye Dr is reasonably certain that my training was not impacting the eye pressure (although, I am not sure he really understands Ironman training), but he has no reason why the drugs would all of the sudden start working.
The urban legend about an endurance athlete going unconscience the ER, and having a misdiagnosis due to his naturally super low HR keeps popping into my mind.
Just wondering if anyone has any insight, not that I will stop training and racing. .
E Green
How long have you been on the drops (for glaucoma)?
Most people don’t think about it but our eye pressures (IOP) are constantly changing. If you check the IOP and its 14, it may be 16 a few minutes later. Your body position, a tight neck tie, squeezing your eyelids while the IOP is being checked, holding your breath, etc…can impact the IOP measurement.
Also, glaucoma can be associated with high, normal, and/or normal pressure. High IOP is called ocular hypertension and can be associated with glaucomaus nerve damage. Glaucoma is damage to the optic nerve.
I’ve not done research to look at the association of exercise and glaucoma (I’m not a glaucoma specialist) but I cannot see short term exercise (even with our long distance cycling and running) as being damaging to such a long term problem as glaucoma.