Glaucoma Treatment

Glaucoma manifests itself in optical nerve damage often caused by an increase in intraocular pressure. Treatment methods for glaucoma focus on slowing the nerve damage by lowering the pressure in the eyes. In adults, treatment will be ineffective if eyesight has already been lost due to glaucoma. In children suffering from congenital glaucoma, however, treatment can reverse some damage.

Treatment for glaucoma includes: medications, laser treatments and surgery. For most patients, the first treatment step involves medications, which aim to lower eye pressure by either reducing the amount of fluid that is produced in the eye or increasing the amount of fluid that drains out of the eye, thus slowing the progression of the disease. The most common form of glaucoma, open-angle glaucoma, is usually treated with medicated eye drops. Because glaucoma is a chronic condition, these eye drops will need to be used for the rest of the patient's life. If these medicated eye drops fail to lower the inner eye pressure, laser treatments or surgery may be needed.

The more dangerous form of glaucoma, closed-angle glaucoma, requires emergency medical treatment. After a sudden attack of closed-angle glaucoma, medications must be immediately used to lower the pressure in the eye or to constrict the pupil. Since these attacks come on suddenly and can be very serious, laser treatment is usually done soon afterward to prevent future attacks.

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