There's no single "best" treatment for glaucoma; the ideal approach depends on the type and severity, but current effective options worldwide focus on lowering eye pressure (IOP) with prescription eye drops, laser therapy (like trabeculoplasty), or surgery (such as trabeculectomy or Minimally Invasive Glaucoma Surgery - MIGS), with MIGS being a rapidly growing, less invasive option often combined with cataract surgery, while research into Vitamin B3 and gene therapy shows promise for future prevention and nerve protection, say Glaucoma Australia, CERA - Centre for Eye Research Australia, and Glaucoma Research Foundation.
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.
have epilepsy – amitriptyline can increase seizures or fits. have ever taken any medicines for depression – some antidepressants can affect the way amitriptyline works. are pregnant, trying to get pregnant, or breastfeeding. have an eye condition called glaucoma – amitriptyline can increase the pressure in your eye.
Surgical procedures used to treat glaucoma in children include the following:
Side Effects of Glaucoma Medications
Alpha Agonists: burning or stinging, fatigue, headache, drowsiness, dry mouth and nose, relatively higher likelihood of allergic reaction.
Because there is no cure for glaucoma, you may need to use glaucoma drops for the rest of your life. However, certain glaucoma treatments can reduce your reliance on them.
Glaucoma headaches are often characterised by their association with other symptoms of glaucoma, making them distinct from regular headaches or migraines. Key symptoms include: Pain Around the Eyes: This pain can be sharp, throbbing, or a dull ache, often exacerbated by eye movements or pressure changes.
Increased eye pressure causes discomfort that can lead to nausea and vomiting. Sometimes, the pressure can be very high that you may start experiencing symptoms such as dizziness and headaches. You can also faint due to the increased pressure.
Individuals of any age can develop the condition. In fact, newborns can even be born with glaucoma, and sometimes, it develops in children in the first few years of their life. Underlying causes like blocked drainage or an eye injury can damage the optic nerve and cause glaucoma in babies and children.
These tips may help control high eye pressure or promote eye health.
This is because it can make you feel sleepy. If you find that you're still feeling sleepy when you wake up in the morning, you could try taking it earlier in the evening. Amitriptyline doesn't usually upset the stomach, so you can take it with or without food.
The main medicines recommended for neuropathic pain include:
' It really depends on which type of glaucoma you have. Antihistamines and decongestants generally have no effect on open-angle glaucoma — the most common form of the disease. But people with closed-angle glaucoma, also called narrow-angle glaucoma or angle-closure glaucoma, should avoid or use them with caution.
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. Lens selection for glaucoma-adjacent conditions must be individualized, not generalized.
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.
Latanoprost ophthalmic has an average rating of 5.1 out of 10 from a total of 74 ratings on Drugs.com. 31% of reviewers reported a positive effect, while 39% reported a negative effect. Vyzulta has an average rating of 6.6 out of 10 from a total of 13 ratings on Drugs.com.
Open-angle glaucoma — The most common form of glaucoma, this type is caused by damage to the filter in the eye's drainage canals.
What Is Normal Eye Pressure? Eye pressure is measured in millimeters of mercury, like the way a thermometer measures temperature using mercury. Normal eye pressure is usually considered to be between 10 and 20 millimeters of mercury (mmHg). Having eye pressure that's too low or too high can damage your vision.
Halos around lights: Rainbow-like rings around lights, especially at night, can be a red flag. Eye pain or pressure: A dull ache or intense pressure may signal acute glaucoma.
Your healthcare provider can tell if the pressure inside your eye is high when they do their testing. In some cases, you may feel eye pain with movement of your eyes or touching your eyes. Even though some eye problems may create headaches or dizziness, this doesn't usually happen with ocular hypertension.
Dizziness has many possible causes. These include conditions that affect the inner ear, motion sickness and medicine side effects. Very rarely, dizziness may be caused by a condition such as poor circulation, infection or injury.
Older adults with glaucoma display impairment with mobility and balance control compared to controls, associated with the degree of monocular visual field loss and lower daily physical activity.
Open-angle glaucoma
Usually, fluid called aqueous humor flows freely through the anterior chamber in the eye and exits through the drainage system, known as the trabecular meshwork. If that system is blocked or isn't functioning well, the pressure inside the eye builds. This pressure can damage the optic nerve.
Recent research highlights the broader impacts of glaucoma on the brain. Transsynaptic neural degeneration extends the RGC damage through the visual pathway and various other regions in the brain, leading to structural and functional changes.
Gradual loss of peripheral vision, often in both eyes: This is typically the earliest sign of glaucoma. You might notice that you can't see objects out of the corner of your eye as well as you used to. Over time, this peripheral vision loss can worsen, leading to tunnel vision.