Saturday, June 6, 2015

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.

Glaucoma cannot be cured and damaged caused by this disease cannot be reversed, but treatment and regular checkups can prevent vision loss in people with early glaucoma. If vision loss has already occurred, treatment for glaucoma San Antonio TX can slow or prevent further vision loss.

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.

If eyedrops alone do not bring your eye pressure down to the desired level, your physician may prescribe an oral medication in the form of pills to reduce your eye pressure. This medication may cause side effects including frequent urination, depression and kidney stones. You also need to tell your physician about the medications you are presently taking to prevent harmful interactions.

When medications do not show any positive result as desired, your ophthalmologist may advise you to take surgery. Laser surgery has become increasingly popular these days between medications and traditional surgery though longer success rates are inconsistent. This painless procedure only takes between ten to fifteen minutes and can be performed either in the clinic or in an outpatient center.

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.

There are some patients who are no longer need any medication right after the method for a period of time. Usually, a trabeculectormy is used and considered as an outpatient procedure. Operative visits may also vary and activities like driving, reading, bending and heavy lifting should be limited for 2 to 4 weeks after the 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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