How often do I need to see my eye specialist or glaucoma specialist if I have glaucoma?
Glaucoma is a chronic disease that requires lifetime management. After you have had a complete eye examination and you have been diagnosed with glaucoma, you will realize that you will be managed like other patients who have other chronic disease like diabetes and high blood pressure who require periodic visits to their doctor. Glaucoma is a chronic disease, and it is extremely important that you remember that you will need regular visits to your eye specialist or more specifically your glaucoma specialist to assess your response to the specific treatment that has been given to you.
These follow up visits scheduled by your doctor are important in making sure that your glaucoma remains well under control and that you do not lose any vision or any portion of your visual field. It is very important to keep in mind, that unlike the vision loss that occurs in cataract which can be reversed by cataract surgery, the vision lost in glaucoma cannot be recovered. This makes it enormously important to keep glaucoma adequately controlled to prevent any loss of vision. This can readily be accomplishment with modern and up to date treatment options now available for glaucoma management to ensure that your eyesight is safeguarded against loss.
Once you have had your initial set of tests used to definitively and accurately diagnose and stage glaucoma, you will not need to repeat all your additional diagnostic tests including optical coherence tomography (OCT), visual fields and other additional tests at every visit. These tests will be repeated at intervals. Your glaucoma specialist, if you are seeing one, will determine what exactly needs to be done at intervals suited to your eye and the stage of your specific disease. On average you can expect to be seen about 3 to 4 times a year for a clinical examination and discussion with your glaucoma specialist. While all ophthalmologists can treat glaucoma, fellowship trained glaucoma specialists undertake an extensive course of study and continued development to develop skill and expertise in the care of routine and also very complex glaucoma patients. Glaucoma specialists are recognized as experts in the field of glaucoma and keep up to date with medical and surgical developments as they become available.
At The Eye Center, we have the first and only United States fellowship trained glaucoma specialist in Pakistan. Dr. Mahnaz Naveed Shah is board certified by the American Board of Ophthalmology and is an active member of the American Glaucoma Society. Dr. Mahnaz Naveed Shah has over 20 years of experience in glaucoma management and deals with a wide variety of glaucoma problems in children and adults. She offers medical, laser, minimally invasive and all other surgical treatments for patients under her care. The Eye Center also has subspecialists in retina, pediatric ophthalmology, cornea and anterior segment disease as well so that complex glaucoma patients requiring more than one type of sub specialist in their care can be easily taken care of within the same clinical setup where all the doctors routinely communicate directly with each other to optimize the care of their patients.
If you or someone you know needs to see a glaucoma specialist, please contact us at the Eye Center at 0302 8291799, 0300 8933377, 0300 0822218 or 021 35836713 or by mail at [email protected] to set up an appointment.