Glaucoma
Glaucoma is the leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide, it is a condition that causes damage to your eye's optic nerve and gets worse over time. It's often associated with a buildup of pressure inside the eye when the fluid in the front of the eye is not circulating correctly. Glaucoma tends to be inherited and may not show up until later in life. Glaucoma can damage your vision so gradually, with no noticeable signs of vision loss, until the disease is at an advanced stage.
Some of the symptoms that you may experience if any are: seeing halos around lights, eye redness, vision loss, nausea and vomiting, eye pain, eye pain and narrowing of the field of vision.
Risk factors that increase the chance of developing glaucoma are: elevated eye pressure, age older than 60 years, family history of glaucoma, other medical conditions such as diabetes and heart disease, near or far sightedness, long-term corticosteroid use, other eye conditions such as eye tumors, retinal detachment, eye inflammation and lens dislocation.
Treatment
Glaucoma is a condition that may require a combination of treatments: eye drops, SLT (Selective Laser Trabeculoplasty), or surgery.
There's no question that not having to put in an eye drop every day, or at least having to put in fewer eye drops, would be seen as a benefit of SLT laser if you are a candidate. However there are other benefits to consider also such as avoiding the side effects of topical medications, including dry eye and not having to worry about compliance issues associated with routine chronic eye drop prescriptions. Dr. Calotti will discuss the appropriate treatment options specific to your case during your consultation.