What high blood pressure does to the eyes
Dr. Swati Goyal · 14 May 2024 · 5 min
When blood pressure stays raised over a long period — above 140/90 — it affects both the tissue of the eye and its major blood vessels.
Damage happens in two ways
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Vasospasm — a sudden rise in pressure narrows the vessel, so the tissue beyond it receives less blood.
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Chronic arteriosclerotic change — the vessel wall thickens over time until the vessel closes off altogether.
Once a vessel closes, blood no longer reaches the tissue beyond it and that tissue begins to die. The damaged vessels also start to leak and bleed — producing haemorrhages, exudates and cotton-wool spots in the eye. Together these reduce vision.
Symptoms
Headache, pain or heaviness in and around the eye, and vision that is dropping alongside it.
Two doctors, not one
An eye specialist, to dilate the pupil and examine the whole retina. And your physician, to check your vital organs and vital signs and prescribe accordingly.
Treatment
The main thing is to control the blood pressure. As soon as it comes under control, the damage that had begun inside the retina slowly starts to reverse — though it takes a long time.
But if the damage has already reached the macula or the optic nerve, it affects vision over the long term. This is why delay costs so much.
Keep taking your regular treatment and keep following up — because sometimes the same medicine gradually becomes less effective.