Things To About Glaucoma Treatments

By Tammie Caldwell


Glaucoma can be treated with pills, drops, traditional surgery, laser surgery or a combination of these procedures. The goal of any treatment is to prevent loss of vision. The treatment aims to reduce the pressure in the affected eye called intraocular pressure. Any damage to your vision caused by glaucoma cannot be repaired so it is important to get an early diagnosis and treatment or prevent further damage.

Early diagnosis and treatment can lessen or prevent optic nerve damage and limit any related vision loss. It is important to get your eyes examined regularly and make sure that your doctor measures your intraocular pressure. Taking any medication as prescribed is essential to prevent more complications. You have to discuss things with your doctor to prevent further glaucoma San Antonio damage.

Taking medications as prescribed can control the eye pressure. Since eye drops can be penetrated to the bloodstream, make sure to tell your doctor about the medications you are currently taking. There are some drugs which can be dangerous when combined with other drugs. Though almost all drops may cause irritable and uncomfortable burning at first, the discomfort should only last in a matter of seconds.

There are times, when eye drops do not sufficiently control the instraocular pressure or IOP, pills can be prescribed aside from drops. These pills may have more systematic side effects as compared to drops. These pills usually turn down the faucet of the eyes and reduce the production of fluid. These medications are taken from 2 to 4 times on a daily basis. Sharing this to your doctor is important so you will be given medications which will not cause dangerous interactions.

When medications do not achieve the desired results, and show intolerable side effects, your ophthalmologist may recommend you surgery. Laser surgery has become popular as a transitional step between traditional surgery and drugs though the long term success rates are variable. This method is painless and only takes 10 to 15 minutes and can be performed to an outpatient facility.

You may return home and resume your daily activities after the surgery. Your physician checks the IOP one to two hours after the laser surgery. While it may take weeks to see the effect of the procedure, during this time, you may have continue taking your medication. Your doctor will be the one to judge whether or not you still need any medication.

Complications from laser are only minimal which is why this method has become popular and some facilities are recommending the use of laser before drops to some patients. On the other hand, when drugs as well as laser therapies do not lower eye pressure, doctors may recommend a conventional surgical operation.

Some patients may no longer need certain medication for glaucoma following the procedure for a significant length of time, while some are still required to take medication. A trabeculectormy is usually an outpatient method. The number of operative visits vary and activities including heavy lifting, driving, reading and bending are only limited after the procedure.

If you have checked and diagnosed having this eye problem, your condition will be closely monitored for further damage. Depending on how the disease progressed, you still need to see either an ophthalmologist or optometrist in San Antonio TX to.




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