The artery within the eye may be closed off within minutes of the attack. Attacks occur because of the narrow dimensions within certain eyes. As the pupil dilates it folds back like an accordion and thickens along its outer edges, increasing the likelihood of totally blocking the already narrow inlet seated like an o-ring along the outer edge of the iris for fluid outflow. See How Attacks Occur . Pain, very intense around the eye, or referred to the belly occurs almost immediately.
Vision becomes steamy and cloudy as well.
See Symptoms and Signs . Individuals with short eyes are at greater risk, particularly once the lens located within the pupil begins to thicken, as after age forty. See Who Is At Risk . In a farsighted eye there is little room in the front of the eye because the eye is small. This results in the lens pressing up against the iris.