Steroid-Induced Glaucoma: Causes, Risks, and What to Watch For

When you use steroid-induced glaucoma, a type of secondary glaucoma triggered by corticosteroid medications that raise eye pressure. Also known as corticosteroid glaucoma, it doesn’t come from genetics or aging—it comes from something you took to treat something else. This isn’t rare. Millions use steroid eye drops for allergies, inflammation, or after eye surgery. Others take pills or shots for asthma, arthritis, or skin conditions. And while these drugs help, they can quietly damage your eyes—often without symptoms until it’s too late.

What makes this dangerous is how sneaky it is. You won’t feel pain. Your vision won’t blur overnight. Instead, intraocular pressure, the fluid pressure inside the eye slowly climbs, crushing the optic nerve over weeks or months. People with a family history of glaucoma, diabetics, and those with high baseline eye pressure are at higher risk. But even healthy people can develop it after just a few weeks of using steroid drops. The longer you use them, the worse it gets. And once the nerve is damaged, you can’t get it back.

That’s why knowing your meds matters. If you’ve used prednisone, dexamethasone, or hydrocortisone eye drops—even over-the-counter ones—for more than a month, you need an eye check. Your doctor might not ask. But you should. And if you’re on long-term steroid therapy for lupus, COPD, or eczema, your eye pressure should be monitored regularly. It’s not about avoiding steroids entirely—it’s about knowing the trade-off. You’re treating one problem, but your eyes might be paying the price.

Some people never develop high pressure. Others see it spike within days. There’s no way to predict who, so the only safe move is to get tested. Eye doctors measure pressure with a quick, painless puff test. It takes seconds. It could save your sight.

Below, you’ll find real patient experiences, doctor insights, and medication reviews that show exactly how steroid-induced glaucoma shows up in practice. You’ll learn which drugs carry the highest risk, how long it takes to develop, and what alternatives exist for managing inflammation without harming your eyes. This isn’t theoretical. These are stories from people who didn’t know they were at risk—until it was too late.