How Do I Treat Glaucoma?
Glaucoma is a scary disease. It takes away your sight, is difficult to detect, and worst of all, it has no cure.
When caught early on, there are treatment options for preserving your remaining sight. To understand how you first need to know how glaucoma works.
How Glaucoma Steals Your Sight
The most common form of glaucoma, primary open-angle glaucoma, progresses very slowly. What happens is a drainage meshwork inside of your eye becomes clogged or blocked.
This causes internal eye pressure to progressively build up. This, in turn, puts pressure on your optic nerve. The optic nerve handles delivering information gathered by the retina to the brain.
Vision loss due to the disease is still permanent, but because it is so gradual, it can be difficult to detect. This is why it is important to schedule regular appointments at Pinke Eye Center in Shelton, CT.
Early detection is key in preventing damage from glaucoma. They can perform a glaucoma test that detects the internal pressure of your eye. If it is higher than normal, treatment can begin immediately.
It is worth mentioning that there are other forms of glaucoma. Narrow-angle glaucoma functions very different from primary open-angle glaucoma.
It has noticeable symptoms, including rapid loss of vision, headaches, pain, and nausea. This occurs when the draining meshwork becomes cut off.
It causes the internal eye pressure to immediately spike. If you notice any of these symptoms, seek immediate medical attention. This is a medical emergency!
Normal-tension glaucoma occurs when normal levels of intraocular eye pressure damage the optic nerve. This is likely due to a fragile optic nerve, though it is unclear exactly why it occurs.
Treating Glaucoma
Most glaucoma treatments involve eye drops that reduce internal eye pressure. You will need to inform the doctor of any medications you are currently taking. These eye drops are absorbed into your bloodstream.
There are different eye drops that work differently due to their main ingredient. Some forms of drops cause the muscles inside of the eye to relax, improving internal flow.
Others reduce the production of the internal eye fluid. In any case, glaucoma drops need to be used every day, sometimes several times per day to be effective.
It is very important to follow the instructions to prevent further damage to your vision.
Sometimes drops are not enough or need to be taken with other glaucoma medication. In rare cases, you may need surgery to immediately reduce internal eye pressure.
Even if you need surgery, you will still have to use glaucoma drops after. This is to maintain healthy internal eye pressure.
There are several kinds of surgery. What kind of surgery you need depends on your glaucoma. It also depends on the severity of your vision loss and progression of the disease.
Schedule annual appointments with us to stay ahead of glaucoma and hang on to your eyesight!
Concerned about glaucoma? Schedule an appointment at Pinke Eye Center in Shelton, CT now! Eye exams are one of your best defenses against conditions like glaucoma!
