If glaucoma is found early enough, the right treatment can help a person maintain his eyesight. Three common glaucoma treatments are:
- Eye Drops — Treatment often starts with medicated eye drops to either decrease the amount of fluid in the eye or improve its flow out of the eye. There are many different types. Side effects may include tiredness, dizziness, dry mouth, or red, itchy or swollen eyes.
- Laser surgery — This is the most common procedure to treat glaucoma. After giving you an anesthetic eye drop so you won’t feel pain or discomfort in your eye, the doctor uses a high-energy laser directed toward the eye to reduce eye pressure. The procedure, done in a doctor’s office, lasts 10-20 minutes and allows you to resume normal activities without discomfort. Common side effects are eye irritation, blurred eyesight and a small risk of developing cataracts (a clouding over the lens of the eye).
- Filtration surgery — Used when the above strategies fail, most filtration surgeries involve puncturing or reshaping the trabecular meshwork (the eye’s “drainage pipe”) to allow fluid to move through. The operation is done with a local anesthetic in an outpatient surgery center. Potential side effects include blurred vision, bleeding in the eye and infection.
