Today we are going to go into a very common problem: how to put in eye drops.
Eye drops can be tricky, especially if you have to put them in on your own. Whether you are using prescription eye drops from your eye doctor or an over-the-counter tears or allergy drop, many of us struggle. Here are a few tips to safely and easily put in eye drops.
TIP #1
The first and best tip I have is to refrigerate your eye drops. This way you can actually feel the cold eye drop going in your eye, and you won't be wondering if you got the drop in your eye or not. Another benefit is that if your eye drops burn or if you have dry eye, a cold eye drop will feel very refreshing.
TIP #2
Another important tip is to use your dominant hand to hold the eye bottle or vial. There is quite a bit of finger or hand strength needed to get the drop out of the vial so you want to make sure you are giving the bottle or vial a good push. You also want to make sure you are resting your dominant hand on your non-dominant hand which should be pulling down on your lower eyelid to open your eye.
If your bottle drop and hand are free in the air, there is a much higher chance you will miss your target.
TIP #3
Also, make sure you have a clean environment for your eyedrop. Wash your hands, keep the cap of the eye drop on a clean towel or tissue, and don't touch your eye with the dropper tip.
TIP #4
You only want to put in one eyedrop. Our eyes can only accomodate about 10 microliters of fluid and the size of the average eye drop is 50 microliters. This explains why almost every time we put a drop in the eye, a lot of the medication spills out of the eye and onto our cheeks. The more drops you put in your eye, the more medication you are just wasting.
Tip #5
My last tip is that immediately after putting in eye drops, you want to close your eyes and put pressure on the inner eyelid corners with your fingers. You want to avoid excessive blinking because on the inner lower and upper eyelids there are little holds which we call puncta. These holes are like sink drains and this is where excess tears leave our eyes and go into our nose to be absorbed into our blood stream.
Especially if you are using a medication that has systemic side effects like steroid eye drops and glaucoma medication, you want to put pressure right at the drainage system and avoid blinking.
Now let’s talk about how to get those eye drops in your eye!
Technique #1
For the first technique you want to use a mirror.
1) Tilt your head a little and look slightly up.
2) Aim the bottle dropper right in the pocket between the lower eyelid and the white part of the eye.
3) Use your dominant hand to put in the eyedrop and your non-dominant hand to lower the lower eyelid.
Technique #2
The second technique is best when lying down.
Rest the bottle or vial on your nosebridge with the tip of the dropper in your field of view. Then just squeeze the bottle and the medication should go right in your eye.
Technique #3
Put a drop or two right in the inner corner of the eyelid, then open your eyes and blink in the eyedrop. This technique also works great for kids or for anyone squeamish about their eyes!
I hope these tips and tricks are helpful. Let me know if you have a technique or tip that works well for you!