Glaucoma is a condition characterized by increased pressure within the eyeball which can cause a gradual loss of eyesight. Glaucoma results from damage to the optic nerve and is one of the leading causes of blindness in adults aged 60 and older, not to mention the number-one cause of irreversible blindness. It affects over 2.7 million individuals aged 40 or older in the United States. The most common symptoms include:
As a glaucoma specialist, Dr. Bowen offers complete glaucoma care including glaucoma laser treatment and minimally invasive glaucoma surgery. Because glaucoma is a progressive disease that often has no symptoms, adults 40 and older should be tested for the condition yearly. With early detection and treatment by a glaucoma doctor, you can avoid going blind.
Dr. Bowen takes a dedicated and personalized approach to comprehensive patient-centered glaucoma care. He will carefully examine your eyes and use the most advanced technology to diagnose, monitor, and treat your glaucoma. He can help you understand the severity of your glaucoma or your risk of developing glaucoma. He offers the following treatments:
There are many options for treating glaucoma. Dr. Bowen will explain what the best options are for you and will work with you to come up with a plan to treat your glaucoma.
Saguaro Ophthalmology specializes in personalized and comprehensive glaucoma treatment and glaucoma surgery. Our friendly and caring team wants to improve the quality of your life. Saguaro Ophthalmology is located at 1760 E. Pecos Rd. Suite 201 Gilbert, AZ 85295 . Our clinic provides eye care services like glaucoma laser treatment, and minimally invasive glaucoma surgery to people from all over Arizona including Gilbert, Queen Creek, San Tan Valley, Chandler, East Valley Phoenix, Sun Lakes, and surrounding cities. Call (480) 590-2039 to schedule an appointment with the glaucoma specialist.
Glaucoma is a disease of the optic nerve that usually causes peripheral vision loss. If untreated, glaucoma can lead to severe vision loss and complete blindness. Damage to the optic nerve usually occurs due to elevated pressure inside the eye. There are a variety of ways the pressure inside the eye can become too high and lead to optic nerve damage, but the most common way is dysfunction of the outflow pathway inside the eye (this is called Primary Open Angle Glaucoma). Some patients can even have glaucoma with normal pressure inside their eye.
The most common symptom of glaucoma is slow, painless loss of vision. The peripheral side vision is affected first in most patients with gradual loss of vision towards the center. Although less common, the central vision can be affected in the early stage of the disease.
Sometimes, if the pressure becomes severely elevated, a patient can feel severe pain and experience eye redness, tearing, and blurry vision.
Dr. Bowen will carefully examine your eyes and discuss with you your goals and preferences to come up with a comprehensive plan to stabilize your vision and to prevent loss of vision from glaucoma. There are now more options than ever to treat glaucoma, and Dr. Bowen has experience using all modalities to treat glaucoma. The three general categories of glaucoma treatments are medicines (drops, pills, or medicine injected inside the eye), laser treatment, or surgeries (including minimally invasive glaucoma surgery [MIGS] or traditional incisional glaucoma surgery [tube shunt or trabeculectomy]).
MIGS are a group of surgical treatments for glaucoma that pose less risk than traditional techniques to treat glaucoma (trabeculectomy). Dr. Bowen has experience with every type of MIGS and offers the following MIGS options:
-iStent Inject W – the smallest device that can be implanted in the human body. The iStent can be placed within the drainage pathway of the eye during cataract surgery to help lower pressure inside the eye.
-Hydrus – a small device that can be implanted in the drainage pathway of the eye during cataract surgery that helps open and increase flow through the drainage pathway inside the eye to help lower the pressure inside the eye.
-Kahook Dual Blade – a specially designed instrument used to remove the first layer of the malfunctioning drainage pathway. This increases flow through the eye’s internal drainage pathway and lowers the pressure. No implant is placed in the eye with this instrument, and this instrument can be used with and without cataract surgery.
-Omni – a specially designed instrument that can both dilate the outflow pathway of the eye and remove the first layer of the malfunctioning drainage pathway inside the eye. This increases flow through the eye’s internal drainage pathway and lowers the pressure. No implant is placed in the eye with this instrument, and this instrument can be used with and without cataract surgery.
-Xen – a small 6 mm device that is implanted into the eye to shunt fluid from inside the eye externally underneath the conjunctiva (essentially the outer covering of the eye). This device creates a new drainage pathway to lower pressure.
With the expanding options for treatment of glaucoma, Dr. Bowen will review the best options with you and tailor your treatment plan in order to best treat your glaucoma.
This is a common question asked by patients! Glaucoma and cataracts both affect vision, but in different ways. A cataract occurs when the natural lens inside your eye becomes cloudy and affects your vision. Glaucoma is a disease of the optic nerve in the back of your eye. Your optic nerves connect your eyes to your brain. Glaucoma is typically caused by elevated pressure inside the eye that slowly damages the optic nerve and leads to loss of peripheral vision. Cataracts cause vision problems that can be corrected with cataract surgery to replace the cloudy natural lens with a clear artificial lens implant. However, vision problems from glaucoma are irreversible since the damage to the optic nerves is permanent. Glaucoma treatment involves preventing further damage to the optic nerve by controlling the pressure inside the eye.
Glaucoma can run in families. If you or a member of your family have been diagnosed with glaucoma, then all blood relatives are at higher risk for glaucoma. A glaucoma evaluation is recommended for anyone with a family history of glaucoma.
Comprehensive Eye Exam (including dilation) – Dr. Bowen will examine every intricate part of your eye to understand your eye completely.
Eye Pressure Measurement – Measuring the pressure inside your eye accurately is vitally important to diagnosing, treating, and monitoring glaucoma.
Gonioscopy – Fluid is constantly being made inside your eye and is constantly being drained through an intricate outflow pathway inside your eye back into your blood vessels (a different pathway than your tears which eventually drain into the back of your throat). Dr. Bowen will use the technique of gonioscopy with a special lens with a mirror used to directly view the internal drainage pathway of the eye.
Corneal Thickness Measurement – A painless measurement of the central thickness of the cornea (the clear part of the front of your eye that helps focus light on to the back of the eye) helps Dr. Bowen understand your eye pressure measurements and your risk of vision loss from glaucoma since patients with thin corneas often are at higher risk of losing vision from glaucoma.
Optic Nerve Imaging – Dr. Bowen will use the most advanced technology to image and measure the health of your optic nerves. This is important in diagnosing and monitoring glaucoma quantitatively.
Visual Field Testing – Although visual field testing may not be the most fun activity, it is a vitally important test to diagnosing and monitoring glaucoma. Dr. Bowen has the latest visual field technology with faster and up-to-date algorithms that allow for the fastest and most efficient testing available.
Your glaucoma will generally be monitored several times per year with Dr. Bowen. Depending on the nature and severity of your glaucoma, Dr. Bowen will tailor a follow-up plan that best suits preserving your vision from glaucoma.
Glaucoma is most common in the later years of life, but glaucoma can occur at any age, including infancy. Dr. Bowen has expertise in helping patients with glaucoma at any age.
The American Academy of Ophthalmology has excellent learning materials on common eye conditions through its EyeSmart eye health information site.
https://www.aao.org/eye-health/diseases/what-is-glaucoma
The Glaucoma Research Foundation has high quality information on glaucoma and answers to many common questions.
https://www.glaucoma.org/glaucoma/
The World Glaucoma Association has great information regarding glaucoma and what to expect during evaluation and treatment for glaucoma.
https://www.glaucomapatients.org/
Dr. Bowen uses a thorough and careful exam of your eyes and all of these tests to put everything together to help you understand if you are someone who has glaucoma, someone who doesn’t have glaucoma, or someone is at risk for developing glaucoma in the future. Dr. Bowen enjoys being attentive to details and spending time with his patients, so he will be happy to explain to you what treatment options would best fit your vision needs and to prevent blindness from glaucoma.
