Read up on Glaucoma treatment options at Consumer Reports Health.

Glaucoma

Key points about treatments

It's important to get treatment for your glaucoma, and to stick with it. If you don't, your eyesight could get slowly worse. Treatment can help preserve your eyesight for many years.

There are three types of treatment for glaucoma: eye drops, laser treatment and surgery. Your eye specialist (ophthalmologist) will help you decide which treatment is best for you.
The aim of treatment is to reduce the pressure inside your eye to a level that doesn't damage your optic nerve any further. This level is different for different people.
Special eye drops are good at reducing the pressure inside your eye. In theory, this should protect your optic nerve and your eyesight. But there hasn't been enough research for us to be sure that this works.
Laser treatment, when combined with eye drops, reduces the pressure inside your eye and helps stop your eyesight from getting worse.
Surgery can reduce the pressure inside your eye, and may help to preserve your eyesight. But surgery can cause side effects, including

cataract
A cataract is when your eye's lens, which is normally clear, gets cloudy. This makes your vision blurred or fuzzy, like trying to see through a fogged-up window.

cataracts. Some people have worse eyesight after surgery than they had before.

This information was last updated on Jul 29, 2008

This information is for educational use only, and is not a substitute for prompt professional medical advice. Readers should always consult a physician or other professional for advice and treatment.
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