Procedures in a hospital emergency room or at an ophthalmologist's office include administering eye-drops and clinical eye massage. Once glaucoma is stabilized, painless laser surgery can be used to create an artificial opening in the affected eye through which the aqueous humor can drain. As the condition can be assumed to exist to some degree in the other eye as well, laser surgery may be performed there to forestall a second attack. Laser surgery is beginning to be used in the early stages of chronic glaucoma as a means of forestalling the use of glaucoma drugs. Stages and progress Of several types of glaucoma, by far the most common is chronic open-angle glaucoma, which typically affects adults over 35.
Chronic glaucoma tends to develop very slowly.
As the individual may not experience changes in vision for months or even years, regular ophthalmic examinations are the only reliable way to detect the condition early. Far less common as a medical condition is acute or closed-angle glaucoma. In contrast to the chronic form, acute glaucoma erupts in a sudden, violent attack. Prevention and risk factors Glaucoma is highly treatable and subject to control if caught early. Measurement of pressure in the eye by a physician is the key to early treatment.