Spring Allergies and Your Eyes
Eye Center South has offices throughout Alabama, Florida and Georgia and our Glaucoma Specialist, Dr. Kirk Sturridge, is available to provide glaucoma care. Glaucoma is a progressive eye disease that causes vision loss over time. Most patients with glaucoma do not realize that they are slowly going blind. The doctors at Eye Center South screen all of their patients for glaucoma by doing regular dilated exams and eye pressure tests. Those patients felt to be at increased risk of developing glaucoma are monitored closely over time and may undergo more glaucoma testing, such as a visual field or OCT. Visual fields and OCTs allow patients to be followed over time for progression of glaucoma. These changes can be subtle and this testing helps to identify patients requiring additional treatment.
Glaucoma treatment is focused on lowering the eye pressure. There are several means of lowering eye pressure, such as eye drops, lasers, and glaucoma surgeries. A patient may require one or more of these modalities to lower their eye pressure. Usually eye surgeries, such as trabeculectomy or tube shunts, are reserved for patients whose glaucoma does not respond to less invasive treatments, such as eye drops. Often times patients will still require eye drops after surgery.
Vision lost from glaucoma can not be restored, however glaucoma treatment often halts the progression of additional vision loss. It is important for all patients with a family history of glaucoma, or those at increased risk, to have regular eye exams. This allows those patients to be evaluated and treated earlier in the course of their disease, in the hope that they can be treated and blindness prevented.
The doctors at Eye Center South provide comprehensive and specialty eye care throughout the tri-state area.
