The invention relates to a method for operating a gas discharge lamp, in which the shape of at least one electrode of the gas discharge lamp is changed, in which by changing the lamp current for a predeterminable duration, at least one current pulse is generated such that structures which have grown on the at least one electrode are at least partially removed, the current pulse being generated for the duration of at least one entire half cycle of the AC voltage or the alternating current if the gas discharge lamp is fed AC voltage or alternating current, and the current pulse being generated with a pulse duration of between approximately 0.1 s and approximately 5 s if the gas discharge lamp is fed DC voltage or direct current.