Many eye conditions require laser treatments, such as glaucoma and sometimes after cataract surgery.
Glaucoma is a condition of the eye where the pressure in the eye affects the optic nerve that lets you see, affecting your peripheral vision. We provide the latest in laser therapy, called Selective Laser Trabeculoplasty or SLT, to treat this condition effectively, allowing the patient to better control their eye pressure. This laser is conveniently performed in the clinic with the only eye drops used to numb your eyes, and it usually only takes but a few minutes.
We also perform preventative laser treatments that are vital in preventing what is called an acute angle-closure attack, which is essentially a fancy way of saying that the channels through which fluid exits to lower the pressure in your eye gets blocked. This procedure, called Laser Peripheral Iridotomy or LPI, is highly effective in preventing this blockage from affecting your eyes. We carefully examine patients to see if they are prone to experiencing this closure, and then we advise you on your options. This is also performed using only eye drops to numb the eyes and takes a few minutes in the clinic.
At times after cataract surgery, the capsule that used to contain the cataract (the natural lens of the eye that has gotten cloudy), and that now contains the lens implant, gets cloudy itself. Normally, in cataract surgery, we remove the cataract from its natural capsule and place the clear lens implant in the capsule to hold it in place. Depending on the body’s healing response, this capsule can get cloudy, decreasing vision and making it as if you are looking through frosted glass. With just eye drops to numb your eye, we perform a painless laser treatment, called YAG capsulotomy, to clear up the capsule and restore good vision to you in the clinic.
Glaucoma and the solutions available for treatment right here at the Orange County Eye Institute
Many eye conditions require laser treatment such as glaucoma and sometimes after cataract surgery. Glaucoma as a condition of the eye where the pressure in the eye affects the optic nerve that lets you see affecting your peripheral vision. We provide the latest in laser therapy called Selective Laser Trabeculoplasty or SLT to treat this condition affectively allowing the patient to better control their eye pressure. This laser is conveniently performed in the clinic with the only eyes drops used to numb your eyes and it usually takes but only a few minutes due to its excellent benefit to risk profile SLT is being offered earlier in the treatment strategy of glaucoma including as primary therapy. Studies comparing SLT and eye drops as primary therapy have found similar treatment effects in the two groups. Although some patients still require eye drops following SLT they require fewer drops to control their glaucoma. In addition, there was significant cost saving of those getting SLT. In summary SLT is a laser treatment for open-angle glaucoma that lowers eye pressure. It can be used as initial treatment, instead of eye drop medications or as additional treatment when medications do no adequately reduce the eye pressure. If you are interested in learning more about Selective Laser Trabeculoplasty visit www.oceyeinstitute.com or call Orange County Eye Institute at 949 441 5444.
