SO you’ve got some eye drops and your having trouble getting them in?
Well well in this video I'm going to show you the best way to administer the drops so
that you don't miss and make a mess of yourself.
Plus stay tuned toward the end for some extra pro tips to make them even more effective.
So let's take a look
Hey everyone welcome i am doctor joseph allen and here on doctor eye health you will find
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Otherwise lets go over how to use eye drops like a pro
The first thing you want to do is wash your hands, your going to be touching around your
eyes to get the eye drops in and you don't want to give yourself an eye infection.
Then look at the side of the bottle or the bottom for an expiration date.
If the bottle is expired, then the active ingredients are well... no longer active and
you will be really just putting chemicals into your eyes at that point and than can
cause irritation, dry eyes, and you could even chemical burn.
Then you want to check out the tip of the bottle, because if the tip of the bottle looks
orange or brown color like this one then you know it's either old or contaminated.
And so you don't want to be using this one, this one...goes right in the trash.
Now when you remove the cap your going to want to place it someplace that's clean so
that you don't contaminate the cap of the bottle.
I prefer to use a piece of tissue paper or paper towel because you have no idea how clean
or dirty your counter tops actually are.
Then you are going to want to lift your head back looking up toward the ceiling, you could
also do this while laying down if you prefer.
Now your going to use your non dominant hand to either make a fist or use your fingers
to pull down on your upper cheek and lower eyelid.
Creating an eyelid pocket.
This eyelid pocket is KEY because it is going to help catch the eyedrop and make a bigger
target.
Now this is the part where you want to listen up because this is the part where most people
have trouble.
When your doing this you want to make sure your not just free floating your arm above
your eye with the eye dropper.
Because that makes it very difficult to get the drop into the eye and most people end
up missing and landing on their cheek somewhere, wasting the drop, and these medications can
get expensive.
What I find works best is to use your dominant hand and rest it on the back of the hand that's
making the eyelid pocket.
That's going to stabilize your arm and make it easier to get the drop directly into the
eye.
Now make sure the tip of the dropper is pointing toward the eye and make sure not to touch
the tip of the dropper to the eyeball itself or your lashes.
Then gently squeeze the center of the bottle getting the drop to fall into the eye.
Once its in, close the eye and wait for a minute.
Now it's best for you not to blink frequently as that will actually flush the eyedrops out
of the eye and through the drainage canal.
Now what actually you can do is use your finger and gently press right on the corner of the
eye where the eyelid meets the nose.
There you will find a little bump.
And when you push on that little bump you will actually close the drainage canal of
the eye.
And by blocking that drainage canal you will keep the medication on the surface of the
eye increasing it’s absorption and effectiveness.
Also by blocking the drainage you will prevent further systemic absorption of that medication
and help avoid some other side effects.
Once you are finished, put the cap back on the dropper and place it someplace where you
can find them easily again.
Now that you know the proper technique lets go over some pro tips.
Now Pro Tip number 1.
When your using many different eye drops at the same time you want to make sure you space
them out by at least 5 minutes.
Otherwise you are just going to end up flushing out the previous medication, wasting that
eyedrop.
Pro Tip number 2.
If you are also using an ointment or gel drop, you want to use those last.
Those gels and ointments are really thick and they will actually prevent the absorption
of all the drops you use afterword, so again use those last.
Now pro tip number 3 If you are contact lens wearer, it is best
for you not to use medications on the eye while the contacts are in, unless your doctor
told you to do so.
However there are different eye drops out there for contact lenses and you can specifically
find these at any sort of drug store or pharmacy and look for the bottles labeled FOR CONTACTS.
Otherwise the best artificial tears or wetting drops for contact lenses say non-preserved
or preservative free.
Because those preservatives in the other drops actually get absorbed into the contact lenses
and damage the lenses.
Pro tip number 4 Is to look at the cap color of the bottle,
these colors are actually made to tell us what classification these pharmaceuticals
fall into, and anything that has red cap to it means don't put it in the eye.
Unless your doctor specifically told you to do so.
That's why some types of contact lens solutions have a red cap to them, again because you
don't want to put that in the eye.
There's even some types of super glue I have seen that have a red cap because they don't
want people confusing that with an eye drop, and yes I have seen that in the clinic.
Pro tip number 5 Is that if your having trouble figuring out
if you got the eye drop in the eye, then consider keeping the medications in the refrigerator.
That means the cooling effect of those drops are going to hit the eye and give you that
alert that HEY you actually got them in, plus you get the refreshing cooling effect.
But of course you make sure you read the package insert of those drops or ask your pharmacist
to make sure its not going to be a problem to keep those drops in the refrigerator.
Lastly, if your having trouble squeezing these bottle and getting drops to come out, make
sure to talk to your doctor or pharmacist about finding other types of squeezing devices
that lock onto the bottle and help get those drops in.
Sometimes these bottles are small and tiny and it's hard to get the drops out.
I have also included some links to some extra ones you can find online in the description
below.
SO eye health question of the day!
Which of the pro tips did you find most useful?
Go ahead and comment in the section below and remember that some of best tips come from
you and the rest of the eye health community.
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