Steroid Injection Alternatives for Arthritis when you have Glaucoma in Omaha, Nebraska.
Aside from the problem that glaucoma causes with vision, another problem is that steroid injections are often contra-indicated in persons with glaucoma!
Female physician is giving a male an injection to the right knee. There is an eyeball in the picture. Title at the top of the image is: Glaucoma and steroid injection alternatives.
Let's start with some definitions and facts:
IOP=intra-ocular pressure
IOP is pressure inside the eyeball (globe).
GLAUCOMA a is a group of eye diseases where increased IOP causes damage to the optic nerve.
OCULAR HYPERTENSION is increased IOP but without evidence of damage to the optic nerve.
Steroids can cause and increase in pressure in the eye (intra-ocular pressure/IOP).
A Level II study demonstrated that 29% of persons who received a knee injection with a steroid (triamcinolone) developed an increase in their intra-ocular pressure! (1)
Steroids that are applied or injected closer to the face or systemically are at greatest risk of causing problems. These may include IV steroid, steroid pills, steroid creams, steroid eye drops, or inhaled steroids.
Do all people with glaucoma have to avoid steroid injections for arthritis or other musculoskeletal conditions? The answer is not clear cut, Certain types and severities of glaucoma pose more risk than others. So it is critical that persons with glaucoma or increased ocular pressure ask their eye specialist if a steroid injection is safe for them.
What if a person is told they should avoid all steroid injections BUT they have pain from arthritis?!
THERE ARE STEROID INJECTION ALTERNATIVES!
Well, there are other options beyond steroids!
Options we offer include prolotherapy, platelet rich plasma (PRP), viscosupplementation (hyaluronic acid) shockwave and radial pressure wave therapy (EPAT)! Each of these treatments have no effect on IOP.
To learn more about each of these options click on the words below to go to specific pages that describe each.
Prolotherapy
Platelet rich plasma (PRP)
Viscosupplementation (hyaluronic acid)
Shockwave (ESWT) and Radial pressure wave therapy (EPAT)
RESOURCES
For more information on Ocular Hypertension:
https://www.aao.org/eye-health/diseases/what-is-ocular-hypertension
For more information on Glaucoma:
https://www.aao.org/eye-health/diseases/what-is-glaucoma