Glaucoma is one of the illnesses you can inherit and pass over from one generation to the next. Though it’s quite rare for the illness to manifest and fully reveal itself early on, it commonly flares up during your later years in life. Symptoms and other indicators may not be immediately present, hence, having a regular check-up with your eye doctor is crucial in order to catch this disease in its earliest stage.

There are different types of glaucoma surgery and treatment available depending on the severity of your case. If you are diagnosed with this condition, fret not. You can explore your options and ensure that permanent vision loss can be avoided.

Laser Treatments and Topical Medication

Before you panic and assume that surgery is the immediate go-to fix, your doctor may prescribe oral medication first or eye drops in order to help ease the pressure in your eye. Some of these medications may have adverse side effects, so if you’re apprehensive about that then surgery might be your best option.

Laser treatments could be the next step. There are several types, some of which are ALT (Argon Laser Trabeculoplasty) and SLT (Selective Laser Trabeculoplasty). As the name suggests, SLT highly targets a specific pressure area and can be done in several sessions, while ALT opens up the pressurized area in your eye in order to release the clogged fluid.

Laser treatment is an out-patient surgery. Make sure that someone can drive you home as your vision may be blurry right after.

Trabeculectomy

If laser treatment isn’t successful, perhaps a more traditional operation is required to mitigate your glaucoma. Trabeculectomy is a procedure where the doctor creates a small incision on the white area of your eye in order to drain out the blocked fluid. The draining process helps relieve the pressure from your eye. Time it takes to complete the procedure is about an hour or less.

Drainage/Glaucoma Implant Surgery

A small tube is implanted within your eye to drain the fluid. This procedure may sound a bit dismal as patients are usually awake while it happens, but numbing medicine will be given prior to the surgery. This treatment typically takes about 1 to 2 hours.

MIGS (Minimally Invasive Glaucoma Surgery)

Minimally Invasive surgery is one of the newer approaches to treating glaucoma. If your case isn’t too severe, then MIGS might be the best option for you. The recovery period is reportedly quicker and yields the same preferred outcome—which is relieving the pressure in your eye.

Electrocautery

If the word “cauterize” sounds familiar to you, then you can imagine what this operation entails. A Trabectome is used by your surgeon in order to zap heat into the mesh of your eye and creates an incision to help release the blocked fluid that’s been causing the pressure. This procedure isn’t as invasive as the others.

It’s highly important to get your eyes checked on a regular basis, as glaucoma doesn’t rear its ugly head until later in life. These surgeries may not treat glaucoma 100%, but it beats permanent vision loss any day. Speak to your eye doctor for the best option possible should you receive a diagnosis in the future.