Why is it important to use prescription eye drops for Glaucoma at the same time each day?

Doctor's Answers 1

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Dr E-Shawn Goh

Ophthalmologist

Each glaucoma medication is prescribed at a certain frequency and recommended to be administered at certain times of the day. The rationale for this is to take into account the half-life of the drug in order to ensure that an effective dose of medication is consistently delivered to the eye to maintain a relatively low and consistent intraocular pressure.

Each drug is also recommended at certain times of the day in order to minimise the risk of side-effects and to ensure that the maximum efficacy of the drug coincides with the diurnal peak of intraocular pressure. For example, prostaglandins are routinely prescribed at night to minimise the risk of red-eyes side-effects during the day time, and to allow the maximum IOP lowering effect of the drug to be effective during the diurnal morning peak of IOP that occurs near sun-rise with the cortisol-peak that triggers your body to wake-up.

Similar Questions

How does high myopia increase my risk of glaucoma?

Hi there! The exact reason why myopia causes glaucoma is not known. One possible hypothesis is that when you have very high myopia, your eyeball becomes stretched and the tissue supporting the nerve in the eye is weaker so you are at more risk of nerve damage from high pressures (or even pressures in the "normal" range). Reduced blood flow to the optic nerve in highly myopic eyes could be another reason. However, these are all hypotheses which have yet to be proven.

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Answered By

Dr Desmond Quek

Ophthalmologist

How long should I lay off swimming after ReLEx® SMILE®?

It is good that you take notice of such symptoms and are aware of how your eyes are feeling as well as closely following the eye doctor’s advice. With regards to your situation, I would assume you swim in a swimming pool, yes? Swimming pool water contains significant amounts of chlorine and other chemicals which act as a disinfectant for hygiene purposes as public pools are shared areas. A common side effect of chlorine is that it dries out your skin, hair and eyes, and more so for the eyes if you do not use a pair of swimming googles.

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