The aim of glaucoma treatment is to reduce the pressure in your eye in order to prevent or minimise further damage to your optic nerve and in many cases, a combination of treatments is required.
- Medicated Eye Drops – reduce the amount of fluid produced in the eye or open the drainage channels so that more fluid can drain away
- Selective Laser Trabeculoplasty (SLT) – often used to treat chronic glaucoma, the laser opens clogged areas in the drainage angle improving fluid drainage
- Minimally Invasive Glaucoma Surgery (MIGS) – involves placement of one or more ‘stents’ into the drainage angle of the eye to bypass the obstruction, allowing aqueous fluid to flow out of the eye. MIGS procedures can be performed at the same time as cataract surgery and can help to reduce the reliance on medicated eye drops in some patients.
- Trabeculectomy or drainage tube surgery – occasionally required to reduce IOP by creating an alternate outflow for the aqueous fluid in the eye to the subconjunctival space
While treatment can help to prevent further vision loss, damage already done is irreversible which is why early diagnosis and careful regular observation is critical.