To see better with glaucoma, manage your eye pressure with prescribed drops/medication, use low vision aids like magnifiers and good lighting, make lifestyle changes (exercise, limit caffeine/large fluid sips), protect eyes from injury, and work closely with your eye doctor, potentially seeing a low vision specialist for tools like voice assistants and screen readers.
But treatment and regular checkups can help slow or prevent vision loss, especially if the disease is found in its early stages. Treatment of glaucoma aims to lower intraocular pressure. Treatment options include prescription eye drops, oral medicines, laser treatment, surgery or a combination of approaches.
Vitamins C and E
These antioxidants help protect your eyes from oxidative damage, which can worsen glaucoma. Include plenty of foods rich in vitamins C and E in your diet to help slow the progression of glaucoma.
While treatment for glaucoma cannot restore vision if it has already been lost, it can preserve remaining sight.
Surgical procedures used to treat glaucoma in children include the following:
As the disease worsens, the field of vision gradually narrows and blindness can result. However, if detected early through a comprehensive eye exam, glaucoma can usually be controlled and serious vision loss prevented.
Recent findings: New FDA-approved treatments include the bimatoprost implant, travoprost implant, direct selective laser trabeculoplasty (DSLT), and ocular pressure adjusting pump.
Other things that can temporarily raise eye pressure include lifting heavy weights, playing wind instruments, wearing a tight necktie or using swimming goggles. If you go swimming, it's best to wear larger goggles, because smaller ones press on the orbit of the eye which increases eye pressure.
On average, let's take a closer look at the relationship between intraocular pressure and going blind from glaucoma: 21-25 mmHg – if left untreated, it takes about 15 years for glaucoma to cause blindness. 25-30 mmHg – if left untreated, it takes about seven years for glaucoma to cause blindness.
The FDA approval of Vizz was based on the Phase 3 trials of 217 patients, which showed that Vizz met its endpoints to improve near vision by at least three lines on a vision chart in up to 71 percent of patients after just 30 minutes, with effects lasting up to 10 hours after once-daily dosing.
Vitamin D is a nutrient the body needs, along with calcium, to build bones and keep them healthy. The body can absorb calcium only if it has enough vitamin D. Calcium is a major part of bones. Vitamin D also has many other uses in the body. It supports immune health and helps keep muscles and brain cells working.
According to a NIH study, women consuming fresh peaches and oranges in excess of two servings per week reduced their odds of developing glaucoma. Orange consumption led to 82% reduction in glaucoma development, while peaches served to cut this risk by 70% percent.
Five studies reported on the association of blood levels of vitamin D and glaucoma. In one study patients with glaucoma were reported to have lower serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels (OR [95% CI]: 0.89 [0.80–0.99]) and higher prevalence of vitamin D deficiency (OR [95% CI]: 2.09 [1.06–4.12]) compared to controls [45].
Heavy caffeine intake should be advised against due to its transient elevations in IOP, especially in genetically predisposed patients or those with a positive family history of glaucoma. Chronic alcohol consumption can lead to many systemic complications and increased risk of glaucoma.
The rule of 5 is a simple rule for detecting retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) change on spectral-domain OCT (SD-OCT), in which a loss of 5 μm of global RNFL on a follow-up test is considered evidence of significant change when compared with the baseline.
Open-angle glaucoma — The most common form of glaucoma, this type is caused by damage to the filter in the eye's drainage canals.
It can feel scary to imagine trying to adapt to and live your life after you have severe vision loss. But most forms of glaucoma are treatable, especially when diagnosed early. And with care and careful management, it's possible to delay — or even prevent — permanent vision loss.
A study on low vision care highlights that every glaucoma patient needs sunglasses that can reduce the effects of glare and improve their visual contrast. However, the study cited that some people must also use prescription glasses that can correct presbyopia and other eye conditions related to glaucoma.
Even when glaucoma patients can read, it is more difficult. Over long periods of time, individuals with more severe glaucoma tire, and their reading speed slows. They also understand less of what they read. Because of all these difficulties, persons with glaucoma read less often.
A newer, innovative glaucoma treatment option is selective laser trabeculoplasty (SLT). With this procedure, your eye doctor applies laser energy to the tissue inside your eye, stimulating the affected tissue to increase the natural drainage process.
“Strict adherence to medication is the single most important thing a patient with glaucoma can do to keep their vision from worsening,” Yohannan says.
Vitamin C is a strong antioxidant that has the potential to protect the optic nerve against oxidative stress. One study noted that vitamin C levels were significantly lower in patients with normal tension glaucoma (NTG) than in healthy control patients.
For instance, you might find claims online about treatments promising to cure glaucoma. However, despite significant progress in research, there is currently no cure for this condition. Some of these unproven treatments can be dangerous and pose severe risks to your eyesight.
The AAO 2025 Glaucoma Innovation Takeaway
Sustained-release therapy will play a central role in long-term IOP control. Better visualization creates safer, more effective surgery, particularly in angle-based procedures.
Laser surgery is the most frequently used procedure to treat open-angle, angle-closure, or neovascular glaucoma. It normally lowers eye pressure, but the length of time that pressure remains low depends on many factors, including: Age of the patient.