Why Does My Drop for Dry Eyes Only Work For 2 Minutes?
John Lipchak, OD For Eye Drop Hero: Blog 4:
As an Eye Doctor For 30 Years, I’ve Heard This Question Many Times. Your Eyelid Is Like A Windshield Wiper. Its Job Is to Scrape Off the Old Tears and Push Them Down the Drain as It Replaces Them with New Tears. This Happens Every Time You Blink. Put A Drop on Your Car Windshield and Run the Wipers/Washer. That Drop Is Gone! When You Put A Drop in Your Eye and Blink, about 80% Off the Drop Is Pushed Down the Drain Within Minutes. It’s Best to Close Your Eyes For 1-3 Minutes After Putting A Drop In, So It Has Time to Be Absorbed. You Don’t Put Skin Moisturizer on And Immediately Wash It Off. The Best for Moisturizing the Eyes Would Be to Keep Your Eyes Closed For 8 Hours (Meaning Put Dry Eye Drops in At Bedtime and Don’t Blink Them Away). See Blog 5 About How to Put Drops/Ointment In.
For Dry Eyes, I Like Gel Drops. I Separate Dry Eye Products Into 3 Types by Thickness: Regular Thickness, Gel Drops and Ointments. My Patients Hate Ointments. You Can’t See for A Minute or So When You Put A Gel Drop In, But When You Use an Ointment It Takes Much Longer to See Clearly Again. My Routine for Dry Eyes:
1: Gel Drops for Dry Eyes at Bedtime (Don’t Blink Them Away).
2: Help Your Eye Produce More Natural Oil for The Tears (See Blog #6).
3: Add: Regular Thickness Dry Eye Drops During the Day and Keep Eyes Closed For 1 Minute (MINIMUM).
4: Add: Prescription Anti-Inflammatory Drops (Steroids, Xiidra, Restasis, Etc.)
5: Change: Gel Drop One Eye and Ointment in The Other at Bedtime (You Can’t See with Ointment in Both).
6: Add: Gel Drop or Ointment in One Eye Only While Sitting and Watching TV, Reading Etc. Do NOT Move Until You Can See Again!
7: Add: Bandage Contact Lens with Restasis Drops (Especially for Patients That Don’t Close Their Eyes Completely When They Blink or Sleep with Their Eyes Open (See Blog #3)).
Most Red Eyes Are Treated with Drops, But Many Patients Hate Taking Drops. That’s Why I Developed Eye Drop Hero to Hold the Bottle for You and Let You Decide Where the Drop Goes.
Ask Your Eye Doctor About the Topics Discussed in This Blog. Remember to Have Annual Eye Exams Because Some Eye Diseases Have No Symptoms (i.e. Glaucoma).