What Are My Treatment Options With Glaucoma?

Treating glaucoma is not the same as curing glaucoma. There is no way to cure glaucoma. You cannot reverse the vision that’s lost due to glaucoma. Treating glaucoma is only a means of halting the progress of the disease.

To treat it requires constant maintenance to be effective. Keep reading to learn more about glaucoma and some available treatment options!

How Glaucoma Steals Your Sight

The fact that glaucoma is incurable is not the only scary part about it. The main kind of glaucoma is also symptomless. Most people with open-angle glaucoma (the most common kind of glaucoma) don’t realize it until vision loss has begun.

This reinforces the all too important concept of going to see your eye doctor on a regular basis. Scheduling frequent eye exams will allow the doctor to check for a wide variety of problems.

Eye exams are the only way to diagnose conditions like glaucoma. Early treatment is key if you want to avoid further vision loss.

You can schedule a visit at Arizona Eye Physicians and Surgeons in Glendale, AZ.

Glaucoma causes vision loss by damaging the optic nerve. The optic nerve connects the eye to the brain and is comprised of many delicate and sensitive fibers.

Generally speaking, the optic nerve is damaged due to increased interior eye pressure. As the eye pressure grows, it presses harder and harder on the optic nerve.

This isn’t always the case. Although less common, glaucoma can occur in eyes that have normal eye pressure. This is rare and is likely due to having optic nerves that are unusually sensitive.

Internal eye pressure raises due to the interior structure of the eye becoming compromised. If the drainage system inside the eye becomes blocked or clogged, this is a problem.

When eye fluid production remains constant, then the net result is more eye fluid. This leads to a build-up of fluid that has nowhere to go and increased pressure levels.

Glaucoma Treatment

The main form of glaucoma treatment is through the use of special eye drops. These eye drops deliver medication to your eyes to relieve interior eye pressure. The method in which the drops do this varies.

Some eye drops help relax the muscles in your eyes to allow better outflow of fluid. Other kinds of eye drops target fluid production, slowing the process so the old fluid has time to cycle out.

Some drops perform a hybrid function targeting both production and outflow. Each medication has distinct advantages and disadvantages including different possible side effects.

What they all have in common is that the drops must be taken continuously to be effective. You will discuss your glaucoma drop options and directions for use at length with your doctor before beginning the treatment.

In some cases, you may need to take oral medication in conjunction with eye drops. In rare, serious cases of glaucoma, surgery may be necessary.

Surgery helps quickly reduce eye pressure levels if drops alone haven’t helped. Even after surgery, you will need to continue taking glaucoma eye drops to maintain lower eye pressure.

Don’t live in fear of glaucoma! Schedule your appointment at Eye Physicians & Surgeons of Arizona in Scottsdale, AZ today!