How Your Uveitis Can Be Treated
It's crucial to start the proper uveitis treatment as soon as you can. Uveitis can cause major eye issues, including blindness, if it is not treated.
Things to control your inflammation should be part of your therapy approach. Treatment options include:
Ease eye pain
Prevent the damage to your eyes from getting worse
Help get back eyesight you’ve lost
Depending on the type of uveitis you have, where it is located in your eye, and whether it affects both of your eyes, your doctor will prescribe different things. Your doctor can change you to a different medication if your initial course doesn't work well.
Corticosteroids
These might be recognized as steroids. They'll probably be your initial treatment. They suppress an inflammatory chemical.
They can be given in a variety of ways.
Eye drops. Steroid eye drops will likely be your first line of treatment if your uveitis is at the front of your eye and isn't brought on by an infection.
Depending on how much your eyes are swollen, you'll need to use these drops more frequently. Utilize them up until your doctor gives you the all-clear to quit.
You can have momentary vision haze.
Along with your steroid medication, your doctor may also prescribe mydriatic eye drops. These drops widen your pupil, reduce pain, and relax your eye muscles. Additionally, they can lessen your glaucoma risk.
Shots. These may be necessary if your uveitis is at the rear or center of your eye, or if your eye drops are ineffective.
Good news: You might just require one shot. You'll get it in your eye, usually on the side, which is the bad news. Your eye doctor may prescribe numbing drops so that you won't feel the shot.
Pills. Oral steroids are an option if drops or shots are ineffective for treating your uveitis. If you have a disease in the back of your eye, they may still be effective. They outperform other types of steroids in terms of strength.
As long as your doctor advises, take your steroid medications. As your therapy comes to a close, your dose will gradually decrease. You'll probably try something different if the tablets don't work.
You can get negative effects if you take steroid pills for a brief period of time. They can include:
Weight gain
Acne
Anxiety
Mood changes
Sleeplessness
In the long term, they can cause more serious problems like:
Osteoporosis
Cataracts
Glaucoma
Diabetes
As a result, you'll only take the smallest dose necessary for the shortest period of time.
Drugs to Treat Infection
You might need to take an antibiotic or another drug designed to treat that kind of illness if your uveitis is brought on by a viral or bacterial infection. Your uveitis ought to clear up after the infection does.
Immunotherapy
Although it's unlikely, uveitis can occur when your immune system unintentionally targets your body. This is also referred to as autoimmune. To halt the inflammation in that situation, you might need to take a medication that suppresses your immune system.
You would take what are known as immunosuppressants. They include:
Azathioprine
Cyclosporine
Methotrexate
Mycophenolate
While taking these, you might require routine blood testing. This is to keep an eye out for any severe adverse effects, such liver damage.
Targeted Therapies
In order to reduce inflammation, biologic medications target specific immune system components. These may be necessary if other uveitis therapies are insufficiently effective.
Your doctor might prescribe biologics such as:
Abatacept (Orencia)
Adalimumab (Humira)
Daclizumab (Zinbryta)
Infliximab(Remicade)
Rituximab (Rituxan)
You may have trouble fighting off infections if you use certain medications. Additionally, they might increase your risk of developing some cancers.
Surgery
Surgery like these may be beneficial if your uveitis is severe, if it continues returning despite treatment, or if it is brought on by certain infections:
Vitrectomy. Your eye surgeon may be able to remove some of the vitreous humor, a substance that is found inside your eye. In order to restore what your surgeon removes, air, gas, or liquid is pumped in; nevertheless, your eye will eventually fill the void with its own fluid.
This procedure is available with either local or general anesthesia.
Implant surgery. Your eye is inserted with a tiny capsule that distributes steroids gradually to relieve your inflammation. It is used to treat difficult-to-treat uveitis in the back of the eye. In general, the implant lasts for two to three years.
For Symptoms Only
To relieve discomfort, you could also try these treatments. The root cause of your uveitis won't be addressed:
Drugs for mild pain, like ibuprofen
A warm towel over your eye to ease aches
Sunglasses in bright or harsh light to cut glare
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