Can Laser Treatment Replace Eye Drops for
Glaucoma?
Chronic Open Angle Glaucoma, which is the most
common type of glaucoma, has no cure. Glaucoma is lifelong eye disease that
will require you to be treated throughout your life in some manner. This may
require using one or more eye drops on a daily or even more frequent basis, by
having laser treatments or even surgery-or some combination of treatments, in
order to maintain stability and prevent vision loss. in some manner. A recent
study that might be of interest to those stable glaucoma patients who in fact
use one or more eye drops each day was published in the journal Acta Ophthalmologica demonstrated that a form of glaucoma laser treatment called Selective
Laser Trabeculoplasty was able to complete replace the need for eyedrops in 77%
of stable glaucoma patients and still maintain excellent control of intraocular
pressure! In most
other patients, the laser treatment was able to reduce the number of different
eye drops used or the number of times a single eye drop needed to be used to
maintain stable eye pressure. This is very helpful for most glaucoma patients
as it reduces medication side effects and helps those who might have a tough
time instilling eye drops or remembering to use them at the prescribed time
each day.
If you or someone you know has glaucoma and
uses eye drops each day and wishes to explore the possibility of glaucoma laser
treatment or anyone concerned about their risk of glaucoma and might need to
schedule an eye exam we welcome you to call The
Eye Care & Surgery Center at 908-789-8999, visit The Eye Care
& Surgery Center, Google+ or facebook.com/eyecareandsurgerycenter to schedule an
appointment.
The Eye Care & Surgery Center is located at 592 Springfield
Avenue, Westfield, New Jersey 07090, 10 Mountain Boulevard, Warren, New Jersey
07059 and 517 Route One South, Suite 1100, Iselin, New Jersey 08830, and is conveniently located for patients from throughout
central and northern New Jersey.
