Diagnosis and Treatment of AMD
Getting a Dry AMD diagnosis
At your local opticians, the optometrist can undertake sight tests, prescribe for glasses and check for eye disease.
Some opticians have equipment in order to photograph the back of your eye and detect signs of early macular degeneration - these machines are called optical coherence tomography scans (OCT scans) which will take a cross section image of your retina. These tests may incur a charge but they are important to monitor your eye health.
At the moment, there is no treatment for dry age-related macular degeneration. It is unlikely that you will be referred to hospital with it, unless the optometrist needs a consultant to confirm the diagnosis. You may be referred if you need to visit the low vision services at the hospital.
Additionally, if your vision has declined and you want to register as sight impaired, a hospital appointment will be needed.
Even though there is no treatment for dry AMD, it doesn’t mean there is nothing that can be done and there is a lot of support out there.
Treatment for Dry AMD
As of now, there is no treatment for dry age-related macular degeneration. The Macular Society is funding research for finding a possible cure.
Up to 15% of those with dry AMD will later develop wet AMD. If you have dry AMD and you notice a sudden change in your vision, you must contact your optician or contact an eye specialist urgently. It is likely that if you already have AMD in one eye, the other may become affected in a few years.
Getting a wet AMD diagnosis
At your local opticians, the optometrist can undertake sight tests, prescribe for glasses and check for eye disease.
Some opticians have equipment in order to photograph the back of your eye and detect signs of early macular degeneration - these machines are called optical coherence tomography scans (OCT scans) which will take a cross section image of your retina. These tests may incur a charge but they are important to monitor your eye health.
If your optician recognises that you have wet AMD, you should get a referral to an eye specialist at the hospital and you should be seen as soon as possible. Treatment should be administered within 2 weeks of the initial observation of dry AMD. The referral will not go to your GP, as this can hold you back from being seen quickly, so it will be straight to the hospital.
Once you are at the hospital, they will conduct more tests in order to be able to affirm the diagnosis.
What to expect once you are in the hospital:
Treatment for wet AMD
If wet AMD is caught in good time, it can be treated. The treatment for this is when an injection is put into the eye and this will stop the new blood vessels from growing and leaking.
Post diagnosis, usually people will have to receive three injections for an initial treatment. This will be one injection a month over three months. Once the third injection has been given, the patient will be assessed to see if further treatment is needed.
The injections are not distressing as they may seem. The eye will be anaesthetised before anything is done and the injection will go in the corner of the eye. The patient receiving the injection will not be able to see the needle.
Some patients feel that they get a better outcome for treatment by combining the injections and some form of laser treatment too. There are a range of treatments for patients to look into but to be aware that not all of these treatments are available on the NHS.