Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsHome RemediesOver-the-CounterPrescriptionsSurgeriesComplementary/AlternativeNext in Glaucoma Guide6 Tests for Diagnosing Glaucoma
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
Home Remedies
Over-the-Counter
Prescriptions
Surgeries
Complementary/Alternative
Next in Glaucoma Guide
Glaucoma treatments run the gamut from the use of a variety of different medications to innovative laser or surgical procedures, and more. Usually, your practitioner will decide which approach is likely to control youreye pressureand best help maintain sight.
Here’s how glaucoma treatments can help, from options you can start on your own to things your healthcare provider may prescribe in the office.
Verywell / Joules Garcia
Home Remedies and Lifestyle
Overcoming Myths
With a disease like glaucoma, which can be a “silent thief of sight,” you may have to put to rest some erroneous thinking about this condition. Keep in mind that:
Pigment Dispersion Syndrome
Over-the-Counter Therapies
In addition to home treatments, there are some over-the-counter options available at local stores to consider as well.
Many scan the vitamin aisles for potential remedies. Vitamin B12 may possibly improve the visual field, but evidence is limited. Reaching for vitamin C won’t necessarily help either. While this is found in the fluid of the eye, the amount needed to effectively lower eye pressure would be so great it would lead to problems such as diarrhea and dehydration.
Herbal remedies may also be on the radar. The antioxidant ginkgo biloba may improve visual fields in some, but evidence is limited. The thinking is that this may improve blood flow and protect nerves.The American Academy of Ophthalmology stresses that herbal remedies should never be used in place of proven therapies.
While some prescription drops help the eye to drain better, others work to keep the production of fluid in the eye down. The class of drugs a drop belongs in depends upon the active ingredient.
These classes include:
Potential Side Effects
In most cases, glaucoma medicines are well tolerated. Still, some may experience some side effects. These can include:
Surgeries and Specialist-Driven Procedures
In some cases, practitioners may suggest undergoingglaucoma surgeryto improve fluid drainage in the eye. Some involve lasers to help improve eye drainage, such as argon laser trabeculoplasty, selective laser trabeculoplasty (SLT), laser peripheral iridotomy (LPI).
Argon Laser Trabeculoplasty
Selective Laser Trabeculoplasy
This works in a similar fashion to argon laser trabeculoplasty but with a YAG laser instead. With this approach, only pigmented cells are targeted while the rest of the drainage tissue remains intact. One of the advantages of this approach is that it is repeatable, while ALT can’t be done more than twice.
Minimally Invasive Glaucoma Surgery (MIGS)
With this approach targeting mild glaucoma, small implants are placed within the natural drainage channels or the system is dilated or unroofed. If implants are inserted, they remain in place permanently. One of the perks of this procedure is that it tends to be safer and patients usually recover faster.
Laser Peripheral Iridotomy (LPI)
For those withnarrow-angle glaucomawhere the area between the colored portion of the eye and the clear covering is too small, this is one option. The idea is to use the laser to make a tiny hole in the colored iris, which reduces the risk of complete blockage of the drain.
Trabeculectomy
Glaucoma Implant Surgery
Another way to reduce pressure in the eye is to use a tube shunt. With this approach, the shunt is placed into the eye’s anterior chamber to provide an alternative route through which fluid can flow out of the eye and bring pressure down.
This procedure is typically used in cases where conservative measures or trabeculectomy have not been successful. A tube shunt is also the preferred surgical procedure for certain subtypes of glaucoma, such as neovascular glaucoma.
Other options include iDose TR (travoprost). The iDose TR is a surgical implant that continuously releases medication. It is FDA-approved for the reduction of intraocular pressure (IOP) in patients with open-angle glaucoma (OAG) or ocular hypertension (OHT).
Neovascular glaucoma is a type of secondary angle closure glaucoma in which new blood vessels grow in the iris and/or the anterior chamber angle, and intraocular pressure is increased.
Complementary and Alternative Medicine
In addition to traditional medicine, some may also consider alternative approaches to lower pressure. However, this is something that should always be discussed with your practitioner.
The problem is that while this can lower eye pressure for a short while, eye pressure must be controlled 24 hours a day. Marijuana use is simply not practical. The amount needed to be consumed would affect mood and mental clarity.
Meditation is another possibility. However, while this may enhance your mood and lower your pressure a little, the reduction won’t be enough to help with your glaucoma.
A Word From Verywell
Whatever approach you may currently be using to treat glaucoma, keep in mind the plethora of others available should you need them. In some cases, these may also be combined to further lower pressure. The aim, as always, is to keep your vision sharp and your optic nerve healthy.
15 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Glaucoma Foundation.Do lifestyle choices affect glaucoma?October 29, 2017.Glaucoma Research Foundation.What vitamins and nutrients will help prevent my glaucoma from worsening. July 23, 2018.Bright Focus Foundation.Five common myths about glaucoma. March 17, 2017.Glaucoma Research Foundation.Update on alternative glaucoma medications.American Academy of Ophthalmology,Is there any way to lower eye pressure using home remedies,National Eye Institute.Glaucoma medicines. June 26, 2019.Glaucoma Research Foundation.Glaucoma medications and their side effects, July 23, 2018.Johns Hopkins Medicine.Glaucoma: What every patient should know.University of Virginia Medical Center.Glaucoma surgery.Bright Focus Foundation.Laser peripheral iridotomy: Surgery for narrow-angle glaucoma. March 25, 2017.Johns Hopkins Medicine.Trabeculectomy.Bright Focus Foundation.Tube shunt drainage devices for glaucoma.Food and Drug Administration.iDose TR label.Senthil S, Dada T, Das T, et al.Neovascular glaucoma - a review.Indian J Ophthalmol. 2021;69(3):525-534. doi:10.4103/ijo.IJO_1591_20American Academy of Ophthalmology.Does marijuana help treat glaucoma or other eye conditions?June 1, 2019.
15 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Glaucoma Foundation.Do lifestyle choices affect glaucoma?October 29, 2017.Glaucoma Research Foundation.What vitamins and nutrients will help prevent my glaucoma from worsening. July 23, 2018.Bright Focus Foundation.Five common myths about glaucoma. March 17, 2017.Glaucoma Research Foundation.Update on alternative glaucoma medications.American Academy of Ophthalmology,Is there any way to lower eye pressure using home remedies,National Eye Institute.Glaucoma medicines. June 26, 2019.Glaucoma Research Foundation.Glaucoma medications and their side effects, July 23, 2018.Johns Hopkins Medicine.Glaucoma: What every patient should know.University of Virginia Medical Center.Glaucoma surgery.Bright Focus Foundation.Laser peripheral iridotomy: Surgery for narrow-angle glaucoma. March 25, 2017.Johns Hopkins Medicine.Trabeculectomy.Bright Focus Foundation.Tube shunt drainage devices for glaucoma.Food and Drug Administration.iDose TR label.Senthil S, Dada T, Das T, et al.Neovascular glaucoma - a review.Indian J Ophthalmol. 2021;69(3):525-534. doi:10.4103/ijo.IJO_1591_20American Academy of Ophthalmology.Does marijuana help treat glaucoma or other eye conditions?June 1, 2019.
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Glaucoma Foundation.Do lifestyle choices affect glaucoma?October 29, 2017.Glaucoma Research Foundation.What vitamins and nutrients will help prevent my glaucoma from worsening. July 23, 2018.Bright Focus Foundation.Five common myths about glaucoma. March 17, 2017.Glaucoma Research Foundation.Update on alternative glaucoma medications.American Academy of Ophthalmology,Is there any way to lower eye pressure using home remedies,National Eye Institute.Glaucoma medicines. June 26, 2019.Glaucoma Research Foundation.Glaucoma medications and their side effects, July 23, 2018.Johns Hopkins Medicine.Glaucoma: What every patient should know.University of Virginia Medical Center.Glaucoma surgery.Bright Focus Foundation.Laser peripheral iridotomy: Surgery for narrow-angle glaucoma. March 25, 2017.Johns Hopkins Medicine.Trabeculectomy.Bright Focus Foundation.Tube shunt drainage devices for glaucoma.Food and Drug Administration.iDose TR label.Senthil S, Dada T, Das T, et al.Neovascular glaucoma - a review.Indian J Ophthalmol. 2021;69(3):525-534. doi:10.4103/ijo.IJO_1591_20American Academy of Ophthalmology.Does marijuana help treat glaucoma or other eye conditions?June 1, 2019.
Glaucoma Foundation.Do lifestyle choices affect glaucoma?October 29, 2017.
Glaucoma Research Foundation.What vitamins and nutrients will help prevent my glaucoma from worsening. July 23, 2018.
Bright Focus Foundation.Five common myths about glaucoma. March 17, 2017.
Glaucoma Research Foundation.Update on alternative glaucoma medications.
American Academy of Ophthalmology,Is there any way to lower eye pressure using home remedies,
National Eye Institute.Glaucoma medicines. June 26, 2019.
Glaucoma Research Foundation.Glaucoma medications and their side effects, July 23, 2018.
Johns Hopkins Medicine.Glaucoma: What every patient should know.
University of Virginia Medical Center.Glaucoma surgery.
Bright Focus Foundation.Laser peripheral iridotomy: Surgery for narrow-angle glaucoma. March 25, 2017.
Johns Hopkins Medicine.Trabeculectomy.
Bright Focus Foundation.Tube shunt drainage devices for glaucoma.
Food and Drug Administration.iDose TR label.
Senthil S, Dada T, Das T, et al.Neovascular glaucoma - a review.Indian J Ophthalmol. 2021;69(3):525-534. doi:10.4103/ijo.IJO_1591_20
American Academy of Ophthalmology.Does marijuana help treat glaucoma or other eye conditions?June 1, 2019.
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