There might be many questions relating to your post-operative care or any complications that may surface. By being well informed before the procedure you will feel more confident about how to take care of your eyes after your treatment.

   After your treatment you will be warned about discomfort that may occur in the days after your procedure. You doctor may recommend some pain medication such as Tylenol to help relieve any discomfort you may feel. However, if your pain is not getting soothed by OTC medication you will need to let your doctor as this could be a sign of a bigger issue. It is very important to not rub or press on your eye no matter how much discomfort you feel. Also you will be given somewhat of a list of this you can and can’t do after your procedure.

After your treatment, it is important to not get any foreign substances in your eye.

•  You may take a bath, but do not put your head under water for about a week. Also avoid splashing water directly   into the eye; instead you may use clean, soft, wet towels to wipe your face.

•  To help keep your eye clean, it is important to not wear any eye make up for up to 6 weeks after your procedure.

•  The cotton patches placed over your eye after the eye surgery are optional, the main reason they are placed is to catch tears and some discharge and to keep bright light from entering your eye immediately after the procedure.

•  As advised by your doctor, you may wear a protective eye shield at night for the first week to avoid any pressure that might be applied to your eye while you sleep. Dark eyeglasses may be worn during the daytime, especially outdoors, to avoid any discomfort that you may have from bright light.

   Following surgery, your eye will be very soft. During this time, the new blood vessels inside the eye will be swollen as they get used to the new, low pressure. While this is happening, there is risk that these blood vessels might break or bleed if the blood pressure inside the vessels goes up. You may return to work as soon as you feel better if you have a desk-type job. However, if you do manual labor you should remain off work for a couple of weeks. This is to help from straining your eye and protect it from foreign matter that may cause complications. Light activities such as, driving to work as long as you can see clearly, watching TV, reading books, and walking are acceptable as long as you feel well.

    Your Selective Laser Trabeculoplasty will take about 6weeks to kick in. You will be instructed to continue your Glaucoma drops unless told otherwise by your doctor. Your surgeon will usually want to evaluate your eye on the day of surgery or on the first post-operative day. At your appointments following the SLT therapy your doctor will continue to make sure everything is healing the properly. It’s important to see your doctor every 3-6 months for pressure checks.                                                                                                                                                    The average duration of an SLT procedure is 3-5 years and can be repeated if necessary. However, if SLT does not seem to work or make any changes, Trabeculectomy (Filtration Surgery) would be the surgery option.

Antibiotic and anti-inflammatory eye drop medications are continued after surgery for up to 6 weeks examples of these may include,Zymar or Ofloxacin for antibiotics, Prednisolone to reduce inflammation, and Atropine dilating drops to keep your eye relaxed and comfortable. In some cases, the surgeon will apply additional medicines (e.g., 5-FU) to further prevent scarring and failure of the filter. The exact regimen will vary from one surgeon to another as well as surgical outcome variables. In order to keep the eye drops clean do not allow the nozzle to touch anything including your eye.
     If you are using more than one kind of eye drop, wait 5 minutes between drops. If you are using eye drops and ointment in the same eye, always use the drops first and wait 5 minutes before applying the ointment. To apply eye ointment wash hands, tilt head back, and gently pull the lower eyelid down until it forms a small pocket or pouch. Once there is a pouch, squeeze and line (1/2in) of ointment into the pouch, release the lower lid and blink; wipe away the excess ointment with a tissue.
    After the treatment site of your eye has entirely healed, whether you will need glaucoma medications will depend largely on the pressure in your eye as well as your peripheral vision (based on a visual field test). In most cases, dependence on glaucoma medication is reduced, and in some cases, glaucoma medications are no longer required. One of the most important post-op instructions is making sure you go to all of your post-operative appointments.

    At these appointments Dr. Wade or Dr. Mayo will make sure everything is healing the correct way, as well as catch any complications or infections that may surface before they become a serious problem. Infection of your glaucoma operation can occur any time after surgery including years later, but rarely occur. Severe eye damage or loss of vision can occur if infection is not immediately treated. If you start to feel any of the following symptoms report those to your doctor immediately, symptoms such as eye redness, pain, loss of vision, or excessive eye discharge.

   Following your doctor’s orders after your procedure will help your recovery be a successful one and help your vision improve greatly.