What Is The Recovery Time for Minimally Invasive Glaucoma Surgery?

At Ophthalmology Associates of the Valley, we offer cutting-edge glaucoma treatments that help our patients manage their conditions. During a visit to our Los Angeles, CA area office, we can perform a comprehensive eye exam that can diagnose cataracts. After a diagnosis, we can make professional recommendations, including minimally invasive glaucoma surgery (MIGS). The goal of this procedure is to help lower eye pressure to slow any damage to the optic nerve, which can lead to blindness.

What is glaucoma?

Glaucoma is a set of eye conditions that can affect eye health and your vision. This damage is due to high intraocular pressure in the eye. Most of our patients at Ophthalmology Associates of the Valley do not have any warning signs. This is what makes having regular eye exams at our Encino or West Hills, CA office important. When diagnosed early, vision loss can be both slowed or prevented entirely.

How do you get glaucoma?

Your eye constantly makes aqueous humor. When this material flows into the eye, it needs to be able to drain out the same amount of material that flows inside at the drainage angle. This is what keeps the pressure in your eye stable. However, when your drainage angle isn’t working right, this fluid will build up, leading to optic nerve damage. As this continues, you will develop blind spots in your vision.

Types of glaucoma

There are two common glaucoma types:

Primary open-angle glaucoma: This is when your eye doesn’t drain fluid properly, which results in increased eye pressure. This is painless and doesn’t cause vision changes at the beginning.
Angle-closure glaucoma: Angle-closure glaucoma occurs when your iris is close to the drainage angle. This causes it to be blocked, so the pressure in your eye will rise quickly. This is known as an acute attack and is an emergency. While this develops slowly, there is really no way for you to know if you are at risk of this emergency without regular eye exams.

If you’re experiencing blurry vision or severe eye pain, call our office to schedule an appointment.

What is minimally-invasive glaucoma surgery?

When you’re considering MIGS for glaucoma, you will undergo a procedure that helps reduce pressure on your eye. At Ophthalmology Associates of the Valley, our skilled eye surgeons specialize in a variety of MIGS procedures. They are performed using the most cutting-edge technology and medical devices. Typically, these treatments are performed as outpatient procedures and are completed fast, some in just ten minutes.

Some of the MIGS procedures we offer include:

iStent Inject®: This drains aqueous fluid naturally from your eye. This FDA-approved medical device is implanted to create a pathway for proper drainage.
Kahook Dual Blade®: This single-use blade allows our team to improve the outflow of materials and lowers the risk of a patient’s progression of glaucoma.
Trabectome: This helps manage open-angle glaucoma. It opens a part of your eye’s drainage system with a handpiece that uses electrical pulses. This cauterizes all of the tissue and removes it by washing it out with an automated irrigation system.
XEN® Gel Stent: This soft tube is inserted into the eye to increase drainage of fluid. It is only about as wide as a human eyelash and creates a new pathway for fluid to drain properly.

Recovery from MIGS surgery

As these treatments are minimally invasive, recovery is much less as compared to traditional glaucoma procedures. You can return to work and resume your daily activities quickly. You will need to re-visit us for follow-up appointments that closely monitor your intraocular pressure during your recovery. Total recovery is about 1 – 4 weeks as compared to 2 –3 months with traditional glaucoma surgery.

Learn how to decrease intraocular pressure with glaucoma treatment near me

If you have glaucoma, our team at Ophthalmology Associates of the Valley uses MIGS and laser surgeries to help our patients manage their glaucoma. Contact our team at our Encino or West Hills, CA office to ask about a MIGS exam.