Posted by: Carolinas Center for Sight in Glaucoma
Among the range of eye conditions that can greatly affect your vision, glaucoma is one of the more difficult ones for patients to cope with, because unfortunately, it does not have a cure. However, thanks to some incredible advancements in technology, treatment for glaucoma is now far easier to manage. Today we’re going to take a look at one of the ways that glaucoma patients can address their condition through a small implant called the XEN Gel Stent.
Understanding Glaucoma
In order to fully grasp just how the XEN Gel Stent can help, it’s essential to know how glaucoma actually affects one’s eyesight. While everyone has the potential to develop glaucoma, a variety of risk factors can influence just how dramatically it decreases one’s vision. Nearly 3 million Americans live with this condition but as glaucoma sometimes advances without any symptoms, almost half of those individuals don’t even know that they have it.
Glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness around the world, and developing a treatment plan early on with your ophthalmologist can often make the difference between managing the condition or succumbing to vision loss. Essentially, glaucoma is defined as an increase in eye pressure that affects the optic nerve. This pressure occurs when fluid from the eye doesn’t drain properly, and if left untreated, the optic nerve will sustain irreversible damage.
How The XEN Gel Stent Works
Despite the fact that there is still no known cure for glaucoma, patients with the disease now have an incredible opportunity to manage their condition easily. Until recently, one of the only ways for ophthalmologists to help patients prevent further damage to the optic nerve was to prescribe eye drops that worked to lower the intraocular pressure, but this method isn’t successful for everyone.
With the XEN Gel Stent, an easy one-time procedure can offer permanent glaucoma management for certain patients. A small implant is inserted just under the conjunctiva, a transparent membrane that covers your eye. This tube-like device allows fluid to drain from the eye, thus working to reduce pressure build-up and keep your symptoms manageable. One of the biggest concerns with this condition is that if eye pressure is left unchecked, the damage done to the optic nerve can be extreme. With the XEN Gel Stent, this issue is consistently managed without having to use medications.
Is It Right For You?
Patients who have tried using eye drops or have even undergone surgery to try to manage their glaucoma yet were unsuccessful may find that the XEN Gel Stent is right for them. Ultimately, a CCFS ophthalmologist will discuss your options with you to determine if this will be the best course of treatment. Given that the implant is designed to rest permanently in the eye, it is an ideal choice for many.
A glaucoma diagnosis doesn’t have to mean a future full of treatments or medications that offer minimal relief, ultimately ending in permanent vision loss. On the contrary, with the XEN Gel
Stent, patients can find new hope that their eyesight will be maintained and their symptoms controlled with ease.
