What our patients say
Find my eye condition
Newsletter subscription
The Yorkshire Eye Hospital publishes an online newsletter focused on current events in both the hospital and in laser eye surgery in general. To subscribe, please enter your details below:
Attend a free seminar
Discover if you could be a candidate for laser eye treatment. Contact us to secure your spot at our next complimentary seminar...
Glaucoma treatment
Note: For your convenience, we have written this web page as one continuous page to enable easy printing. Should you wish to print this information in its entirety, simply choose File > Print on your web browser now.
Glaucoma is an eye condition that leads to the progressive loss of nerve fibres in the optic nerve. If left untreated, this can lead to loss of peripheral vision (i.e. what can be seen at the sides of the visual field, rather than in the centre). If glaucoma progresses, it can affect all peripheral vision, then impair central vision, and, very rarely, may lead to very significant central visual impairment.
Treatments for glaucoma are aimed at bringing down the pressure in the eye to a level that is low enough to prevent harm to the optic nerve. Once the optic nerve is affected by glaucoma, lowering the pressure in the eye prevents further damage to the nerve. Damage already done to the optic nerve cannot be reversed.
Visual field loss when plotted out is represented as dark spots on a visual field test. In reality, even though peripheral vision may be substantially lost in some areas, this may not be perceived as lost vision - because the brain is very clever at 'filling in the gaps'. This means that smaller areas of blank spots (or 'scotoma') will not be noticed. Clearly it is important to be aware of this, particularly when driving a car.
Acute angle closure
Acute angle closure is the sudden onset of severe eye pain due to very high eye pressure. This is caused by a blockage in the normal fluid circulation in the front of the eye. It affects about one in a thousand people but is most prevalent in the over-seventies. It is more common in people who are long-sighted because they have smaller eyes and are more likely to get the blockage. Hospital treatment may be required with eye drops and laser treatment to make a tiny hole in the iris of the eye to bypass the blockage.
Glaucoma surgery
Glaucoma surgery is usually performed in people with chronic glaucoma that continues to get worse despite treatment with eye drops. The operation takes about 40 minutes under local anaesthetic and patients do not need to stay in hospital.
A chronic leak from the front chamber of the eye is created so fluid can pass under the coverings of the eye back into the eye socket. This produces a little raised blister on the surface of the eye under the upper lid. Sometimes the leak seals up due to the normal healing process, but it can easily be reopened or the operation can be repeated.
Laser treatment for glaucoma
Laser treatment is used for a wide variety of glaucoma problems. In angle closure where there is a block in the normal circulation of fluid in the front chamber of the eye a laser is used to make a tiny relieving hole in the iris of the eye. In chronic open angle glaucoma a different type of laser is used in multiple tiny spots to increase the drainage through the normal filter in the angle of the eye between the iris and cornea. In more unusual or difficult forms of glaucoma, yet another type of laser is used to treat the ciliary body, which makes the fluid for the front part of the eye, to lower the production and thus reduce the pressure in the eye.
Please call one of our experienced patient consultants on 01274 612 566 for more information on glaucoma treatments or to book your initial complimentary consultation.