Glaucoma is an eye condition in which the pressure inside the eye is too high for the eye. When the pressure is too high, it damages the optic nerve, which is the cable carrying images the eye sees to the brain. Any damage to the optic nerve is irreversible. Therefore, early diagnosis of glaucoma is important, so as to start treatment early enough and prevent irreversible blindness from glaucomatous optic nerve damage. Management of glaucoma includes:
– Screening of first degree relatives of glaucoma patients, since glaucoma can run in families (hereditary)
– Use of eye drops to reduce eye pressure
– Laser treatment to open up the drainage channels of the fluid produced inside the eye, to reduce the eye pressure.
– Minimally Invasive Glaucoma Surgery (MIGS)
– Trabeculectomy
– Glaucoma drainage devises
