In this post, Dr Judy Ku discusses glaucoma treatment results and how effectively you can manage your glaucoma and hopefully discontinue medication use.
When will you see the results following commencement of glaucoma treatment?
The main treatment goal is to achieve 20 to 30% pressure drop from your baseline.
For medications, we often see you at six weeks to determine whether you’re achieving the goal and also reaching what we call a target pressure.
We set the target pressure at the level below which you will no longer see any signs of progression. That’s also the time when we check for side effects.
If you develop any allergies or side effects prior to the six weeks, it’s important to contact the Clinic and we can provide you with more specific assistance.
Laser treatment goals
In terms of the laser treatment. Again, our goal is also to achieve 20 to 30% drop SLT. We see you at the one month mark, and that’s when it gives us the best idea, whether you’re achieving that result.
For some patients, you may still need to stay on one of the medications, but hopefully the goal is to get you off the majority of your medications.
MIGS surgery and XEN stent
In terms of surgery, we have two goals. One is to achieve your target pressure below which we no longer see any progression. And secondly, hopefully to be medication-free.
In terms of MIGS surgery, we will see the results after about a month and we’ll check your pressures at that point.
In terms of XEN stent, we see you more frequently. We’ll see you at day one, one week, and then at one month. And that’s when we determine whether you’re achieving your target pressure.
Trabeculectomy and tube surgery
In terms of trabeculectomy and tube surgery we also will see the results at about one month mark. That’s when we see stabilization.
Sometimes after tube surgery you may go through a hypertensive phase, at around the six weeks mark, where scarring is forming around the plate.
In which case you might see a little spike in your pressure, and we’ll just need to manage that for a little while longer before the pressure drops again.
Book a consultation
We’d like to invite you to book a consultation with us. It’s the only way that we can really assess the health of your eye and understand your condition.
We look forward to meeting you where we can talk in person and discuss your condition in detail and talk through the options of getting your eye health back on track.
