Glaucoma is an eye condition in which the optic nerve, connecting your eye with your brain, is damaged. It can lead to serious loss of vision, and usually occurs when the fluid in the eye does not drain properly. This increases the pressure inside the eye putting pressure on the optic nerve. It can develop slowly, and in the early stages glaucoma does not have symptoms. Later it can cause blurred or dim vision, intense eye pain, headaches, tenderness around eyes, which can be red, seeing rings around lights. It usually affects older people, but can affect people of any age.
Conventional Medical Treatment for Glaucoma
As usual, I have used the NHS Choices website as a guide to the conventional medical treatment of glaucoma. It says that there are several different treatments for glaucoma, depending on the type of glaucoma the patient has, and these are described as
* primary open angle glaucoma. usually treated with eye drops, or laser treatment or surgery if drops don't help.
* primary angle closure glaucoma, which often needs immediate treatment in hospital with drugs to reduce the pressure in the eye, often followed by laser treatment.
* secondary glaucoma, which is treated with eye drops, laser treatment or surgery, depending on the underlying cause.
* childhood glaucoma, which often requires surgery to correct the problem in the eye that led to the build-up of fluid and pressure.
NHS Choices warns that "treatment can't reverse any loss of vision that has already occurred, but can help stop your vision getting any worse."
Eye drops
These are the main treatment for glaucoma, and there are several different types, all seeking to reduce the pressure in the eyes.
• prostaglandin analogues, such as latanoprost, bimatoprost, tafluprost and travoprost
• beta-blockers, such as betaxolol hydrochloride, levobunolol hydrochloride and timolol
• carbonic anhydrase inhibitors, such as brinzolamide and dorzolamide
• sympathomimetics, such as brimonidine tartrate
• miotics, such as pilocarpine
NHS Choices admits that these eye drops can cause "unpleasant side effects", including eye irritation, and also admits that some drops are not suitable for people with 'certain underlying conditions'. It says that patients may need to try several types of drop before finding the one 'that works best'!
Laser treatment
Laser treatment is used if eye drops do not work. A high-energy beam of light is used to stop fluid building up inside it. It is usually done whilst the patient is awake, but local anaesthetic drops are used to numb your eyes.
Surgery
Surgery may be recommended as an alternative to laser treatment in some cases, and several types of procedure is described on the NHS Choices website.
Homeopathic Treatment of Glaucoma
Homeopathy is a medical therapy that will avoid some of the side-effects and adverse reactions of conventional medical treatment. Homeopathy is the second most popular medical therapy in the world, and the most popular holistic system of medicine. Homeopathy is based on remedies made from a variety of different substances, all of which are known to cause symptoms of illness if taken in their normal form. However, homeopathy has discovered that substances that cause symptoms of illness can also cure those same symptoms of illness.
This is the principle of “Like cures Like” on which all homeopathy is based.
The task of the homeopath is to find a remedy whose symptom picture matches the symptoms of a person’s illness. These remedy symptom pictures have been developed over the last 220 years.
The selection of a homeopathic remedy is based on the individual’s symptoms of illness, not on any broad conventionally-defined illness. It is important to stress this. Homeopathy does not treat illness or diseases. Instead it treats an individual who has been diagnosed with a particular illness or disease. The distinction is important, and if you wish to read more about this, click on the chapter “Illness Diagnosis”.
As far as Glaucoma is concerned, homeopathy has highlighted a number of remedies that have been found to be useful in its treatment. The Dr Homeo website has outlined some simple remedy pictures for a number of these remedies. All the remedies mentioned are safe, and any remedy that matches the patient’s symptoms will be effective. These simple remedy pictures give some indication of the types of symptoms they will treat.
Phosphorus
This is described as the best Homeopathic remedy for Glaucoma with optic nerve damage, and on top of the list of top homeopathic remedies for Glaucoma. It is also indicated for Glaucoma when the optic nerve is damaged (atrophied). The main symptom guiding the use of this Homeopathic remedy is tiredness of eyes all the time. The eyes seem very tired even when they are not engaged in much work. The eyes seem to be exhausted. Along with the fatigue of eyes, the vision is blurred and the patient feels that every object is under the cover of dust when he or she looks at it. Halos around light is also an important symptom. Another key symptom is the slightly improved vision by shading the eyes with hands. By doing this, the objects that look blurred seem somewhat clear. Homeopathic medicine Phosphorus helps in improving the eyesight and the fatigue of eyes.
Comocladia
Homeopathic remedy for Glaucoma with fullness sensation in eyes. Amongst the homeopathic remedies for Glaucoma with pain. Comocladia is indicated in patients, who experience a fullness sensation in eyes. The fullness is mostly accompanied by pain in eyes. The eyes feel very enlarged. The eye pain gets worse by warmth and such a person feels relief in pain and eye fullness in open air.
Belladonna
Top Homeopathic medicine for Glaucoma with acute symptoms. Belladonna is the best for acute symptoms in a patient of Glaucoma. The main symptoms include sudden increase in dimness of vision. The eyes appear red. This is accompanied by a severe pain in eyes and head. The pain is very violent in character. Nausea and vomiting may also occur.
Osmium
This Homeopathic remedy is of great help in improving dim vision. The intraocular pressure is raised in persons needing Osmium. The important symptom listed by the patient is the display of various changeable colours of an object when looked at from different angles like a rainbow (iridescent vision). The patient may also have intolerance to light.
Physostigma
For an effective Homeopathic treatment of Glaucoma following injury, Physostigma is the best remedy. The symptoms may be dim vision, blurring of vision or partial blindness. Along with dim vision, the patient may suffer from pain in eyes. The pain is usually worse after using the eyes. Patients of Glaucoma with myopic condition also respond well to this Homeopathic medicine.
Prunus Spinosa
Prunus Spinosa is the ideal natural Homeopathic medicine for treatment of sudden pain in right eye as a result of Glaucoma. Prunus Spinosa works mainly for right eye pain. Pain in eye is so acute and violent that it results in a bursting sensation in the eyeball.
Cedron
In contrast to Prunus Spinosa, the action of natural Homeopathic medicine Cedron is centered on the left eye of a Glaucoma patient. Cedron is the ideal Homeopathic remedy for severe, violent pain in the eye, especially left eye. The onset of pain may show certain periodicity in its occurence. The pain may show radiation to the nose.
Many of these remedies can be found in simple home-use remedy kits that can be obtained from these Homeopathic Pharmacies. However, for an accurate, individualised remedy selection, patients should consult with a qualified homeopath. This increases the likelihood of matching an individual with a remedy that will work for them. A remedy that does not match the symptoms of an individual’s illness will not work, but equally will do no harm!
Scientific Evidence Supporting Homeopathy
There is a significant and growing amount of scientific evidence confirming that homeopathy is a safe and effective medical therapy. However, this evidence remains only the third most important proof of this.
The most important proof for the safety and effectiveness of homeopathy is clinical experience, that is the many millions of patients who, having suffered serious illness, have been treated successfully with homeopathy. This is going on throughout the world, and been doing so for over 200 years.
Homeopathy has also developed a voluminous materia medica. This contains the intricate details of the healing properties of several thousand substances used to make homeopathic remedies. The short remedy pictures above are just a tiny part of this knowledge.
I am not aware of any scientific testing of homeopathic treatment on Glaucoma.
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