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The Best Treatments For Patients With Glaucoma

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.

The good thing is that glaucoma can be managed if diagnosed early and that with medical or surgical procedure treatment, people with this eye diseases will never lose their sight. Taking medications on a regular basis as prescribed is important to prevent vision threatening damage. This is the reason why it is crucial to discuss side effects with your physician. You and your physician need to work together against glaucoma San Antonio.

The treatment for this eye problem usually starts with medicated eyedrops. Make sure to use the drops as prescribed. Otherwise, your optic nerve damage could get even worse. If your doctor prescribed more than one type of eyedrop, just be sure to ask how long to wait between applications and taking the drops as your physician prescribed them.

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 no longer require glaucoma medications after the surgical procedure for a length of time. A trabeculectormy is often an outpatient procedure. The number of operative visits to the doctor may vary and some activities such as reading, driving, heavy lifting and bending must be limited for 2 to 4 weeks following a surgical procedure.

If you have been detected with this problem, this condition should be properly monitored for any further damage. Depending on how your glaucoma is progressing, you also need a further appointment in the city of San Antonio TX with an ophthalmologist. A lot of specialists will use an unlicensed medication if they think the medication is effective and benefits of treatment outweigh associated risk. If your ophthalmologist considers an unlicensed drug, they should inform you that it is unlicensed and discuss possible risks and benefits with you.




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