What are some common questions about AMD treatment?
What are some of the common questions people ask about AMD treatment? I see a lot of patients with wet age-related macular degeneration, and everyone varies regarding the questions they ask. However, some questions are common to most or all patients.
Does AMD treatment hurt?
One of the questions I get asked is, is the treatment painful, does it hurt? Well, I’m pleased to say it doesn’t hurt.
We use powerful anaesthetic drops at the time of treatment to make sure that people don’t feel any pain. So, I can assure you that that’s what we’ll do in your case if you need treatment. Also, the procedure itself only lasts seconds. It’s probably taken me longer now to talk about this to deliver the injection itself. So again, the fact that treatment is quick means that people don’t feel any pain at the time.
Most of the time we spend to give an injection is to make sure the patient is comfortable, waiting for the anaesthetic drops to work, and cleaning the eye to prevent an infection.
How many AMD treatments will I need?
The other question people have for me is how many injections will I need? It’s an interesting question and a very appropriate question. However, it’s challenging to answer that question when I first see a patient.
On average people will need seven injections in the first year, but I can’t guarantee you that that will apply to you. We tailor the treatment plan based on your response to the treatment and what we find based on the consultations that I carry out after people have had the first set of injections.
Are there risks associated with AMD treatment?
Finally, the other question I get asked a lot is about the risks of treatment. There are risks of AMD treatment, but thankfully they’re minimal.
The main risk of treatment is of severe sight-threatening infection after the injection. The likelihood of that is approximately 1 in 1,000, or that is the figure that’s quoted when we read about AMD treatment. However, when looking at the data that I have from my results and from the departments that I work in, the risk seems to be approximately 1 in 3,000 or 1 in 5,000. It’s an exceedingly low risk of losing vision due to sight-threatening infection.
I’ve answered a lot of questions relating to treatment for wet age-related macular degeneration, and you can find a lot of the answers and more information on the website and additional video clips.
