Drop something quickly into your eyes – which isn’t so easy for some people. If something approaches the eye, the protective eyelid reacts immediately and closes. If you know the correct technique, you will be able to keep your eyes open long enough to administer the medication. Here are ten valuable tips:
2. Keep your eyes open
Most people involuntarily close their eyes when an object approaches them. The instillation works best if you look up with your eyes wide open. With your support hand, you should pull the lower eyelid down a little near the base of the eyelashes and with the other hand place the drop diagonally from above into the “pocket” created in the lower eyelid.
3. Try drippers
If this is difficult for you, you can use instillation devices available in pharmacies or online. An accessory is placed on the eyepiece, which allows the eye to be positioned correctly and the lower eyelid to be pulled down in different ways. As a rule, such an aid is suitable for all ordinary eye drop bottles or tubes.
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4. Drip vertically or lying down
During use, the dropper bottle should be held as vertically as possible to obtain the correct drop size.
If you have difficulty aiming, you can lie down to instill the drops. If you accidentally close your eyes while instilling the eye drops, the drop will fall onto your eyelid. When you open your eyes, the medicine still reaches the cornea and conjunctiva. This advice is also good for restless children. Also make sure the child’s head is in a horizontal position and not elevated by a pillow.
5. Drip sparingly – once is enough
All you need to do is put a single drop in your eye. This already contains almost twice the volume of tear fluid that the eye contains. Excess eye medicine runs down your cheek or drains through your tear ducts. This is how the medicine enters the circulation and can cause undesirable effects in the body.
6. Close your eyes and roll
After instillation, you must slowly close your eyelids – do not squeeze them! – and roll your eyes, so the product will spread evenly. Additionally, keeping your eyes tightly closed for at least a minute will have a longer-lasting effect on your eye tissues.
You can also achieve a longer exposure time if you press the nose bone to the inner corner of the eye with your thumb and forefinger for a few minutes after instillation. This blocks the tear ducts through which the active ingredient is transported. This has the advantage that less of the active ingredient reaches the rest of the body.
7. Don’t touch your eyes
Make sure neither the drip tip nor the nozzle of the tube touches the eye. Otherwise, you could transmit pathogens every time you use the medicine. For the same reason, several people should not use the same bottle or tube.
8. Keep your distance for a quarter of an hour
If you need to use different eye medications, wait 15 minutes between doses of each medication. This is especially true for eye products that contain an antibiotic. This will ensure that its effectiveness is maintained. Eye ointments should always be applied to the eyes as a last resort.
9. Don’t get behind the wheel right away
After instillation, you may have difficulty seeing for five to ten minutes. If you have applied an ointment or gel to the conjunctival sac, your vision will be blurred for at least half an hour. During this period, you must not actively participate in traffic, operate machinery or carry out any work without a secure base. The same applies if the eye drops make you sensitive to light.
10. Better to take out contact lenses
You should not wear contact lenses if you have an eye infection or in the early period after eye surgery. They place additional pressure on the eye tissue. This is especially true if contact lens care products contain preservatives. Even if you use eye ointment or gel, you should not wear contact lenses.
When treating other eye diseases with eye drops, you must remove stable lenses (“rigid contact lenses”). You should only use them again after a quarter of an hour at least.
Soft contact lenses are taboo with eye drops containing active ingredients. Medicines can be stored in the relatively large pores of the lenses and are “held” by the plastic. This means they stay on the eyes much longer than desired. This increases the risk of undesirable effects.
Preservatives can cause problems with eye medications that you have to use for a long time. The risk increases if you wear contact lenses during this time. That’s why you should only use preservative-free products for long-term therapy – even if your contact lenses are made of durable material.