If you or a loved one has glaucoma, you will know just how important it is for a glaucoma patient to stay on top of their prescribed eye drops. While eye drops cannot cure the disease, they can relieve discomfort from symptoms and keep the disease from advancing as quickly. Those with glaucoma may experience a loss of vision if they stop taking their eye drops as prescribed.
When you want to know what are the best eye drops for glaucoma, the answer can be different for different people. After all, different drops work best for different eyes. The only person who can really tell you what eye drops are best for you is your doctor. Still, if you want to answer burning questions like “what is the safest eye drop for glaucoma?”, you can read the article below for more information to bring to your next doctor’s appointment.
What are the best eye drops for glaucoma?
As we mentioned above, the best eye drops for you will depend on what your doctor recommends. Still, as a general rule, some eye drops assist the eyes in draining fluid. This leads to the body lowering the chief symptom of glaucoma, which is eye pressure.
Eye drops that lower eye pressure in glaucoma patients include a type called “Prostaglandins,” such as the generic versions called travoprost, latanoprost, tafluprost, and bimatoprost. The brand name versions of these meds are called Travatan Z, Xalatan, Ziptan, and Lumigan, respectively.
Some eye drops that work well for glaucoma are called rho kinase inhibitors. Medications that follow this chemical structure include Rhopressa, also known as netarsudil. Nitric oxides also can be especially effective for glaucoma patients. A popularly prescribed nitric oxide eye drop is known as Vyzulta, which is also called latanoprostene bunod as a generic version. The final type of fluid-draining eye drops are called miotic or cholinergic agents. This class of eye drops includes Isopto Carpine, also known generically as pilocarpine.
Some eye drops decrease the level of fluid that the eye produces rather than helping the eye drain fluid. Common examples of fluid production decreasing eye drops include alpha-adrenergic agonists and beta blockers.
Some popular alpha-adrenergic eye drops include Iopidine, which goes by apraclonidine in its generic form, and Alphagan P or Qoliana, which are both known as brimonidine when prescribed as a generic medicine. Common beta blockers include Betoptic, which goes by betaxolol as a generic, and the generic timolol, which has many different brand names, including Betimol, Timoptic, and Istalol. Certain fluid production decreasing eye drops, such as Trusopt and Azopt, are carbonic anhydrase inhibitors.
What is the safest eye drop for glaucoma?
The safest eye drops for glaucoma patients are the ones that their doctors prescribe for them. As a whole, any of the types of eye drops on this list should be safe for those with glaucoma as long as they are used as prescribed by a medical professional.
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