How To Place Eye Drops In Your Eyes

Knowing how to place eye drops properly helps avoid eye damage. So how do you make sure that the drops are properly used?  Effectiveness and success of the treatment relies on the correct administration of the medication, which requires knowledge and training of the process including the following:

  • How to place eye drop bottle when administering the droplets;
  • what is the position of the eye drop nozzle;
  • how much dosage of eye drops that you are supposed to use; and
  • what are the exercises after administering the drop.

While eye drops have been used effectively for decades, they can also be a nuisance to apply sometimes. In most cases, the drops land outside the eye or any other part of the face, which make it hard to get the right dosage of medication and cause to waste much and spend more. There are some exercises, however, to avoid these:

Video Transcription

So, you’ve got glaucoma. Your doctor prescribed some drops…told you to use them once, twice, maybe three times a day…but whoa! I bet she didn’t know just how expensive they were going to be…and how are you supposed to put them in the eye? It’s not like placing a drop in the eye is “natural” or anything. My eye? It’s like getting into fort Knox…my lids seem to know that drops coming and are like, no way you’re getting’ in here. Bam!..another drop wasted. I can’t afford to waste these drops. Ounce for ounce they make gold look like a bargain. Then, when I do get a drop in the eye it stings, rolls down into my nose and throat, gives me a bitter taste, and it seems like I’m coughing for hours afterwards. Oh, and now my vision is blurred all the time. I thought glaucoma treatment was supposed to protect me from loss of vision. Really? Is this the best modern medicine has to offer?

Video Exercises of How to Place Eye Drops Properly

If you are still having trouble on how to place eye drops, here are some tips from glaucoma.org that may help:

  • If your hands are shaking: Try approaching your eye from the side so you can rest your hand on your face to help steady your hand. If shaky hands are still a problem, you might try using a 1 or 2 pound wrist weight (you can get these at any sporting goods store). The extra weight around the wrist of the hand you’re using can decrease mild shaking.
  • If You Are Having Trouble Getting The Drop Into Your Eye: Try This. With your head turned to the side or lying on your side, close your eyes. Place a drop in the inner corner of your eyelid (the side closest to the bridge of your nose). By opening your eyes slowly, the drop should fall right into your eye. If you are still not sure the drop actually got in your eye, put in another drop. The eyelids can hold only about one drop, so any excess will just run out of the eye. It is better to have excess run out than to not have enough medication in your eye.

Is there Any Other Alternative for Drops?

Eye drops have been used to treat glaucoma effectively for decades, but drops themselves are not without risks. However, with the technologies today, there are many other options for glaucoma treatment such as:

Laser Trabeculoplasty (LT). Unlike drugs, laser has no systemic side effects. Although studies have shown that LT is as effective than medication alone, it is known to lower IOP only temporarily and has a high failure rate.

Glaucoma Surgery Trabeculectomy, the classic and oldest among filtering. Although there have been various permutations of the procedure over the years, the danger of surgical failure as well as sight-threatening eye infection always looms.

Minimally-Invasive Surgery.  With the advent of non-penetrating surgeries such as viscocanalostomyand canaloplasty, the Holy Grail of safer, effective glaucoma surgery may now be possible. Considered by many eye surgeons as the next frontier of glaucoma treatment, canaloplasty possesses the efficacy of filtering surgery without its attendant risks. One of the aspects about canaloplasty is it’s a restorative procedure. It restores the canal to its natural function, and once it’s open, fluid can exit the eye the way it was meant to, into the natural drainage canals. Once that happens the pressure is reduced. And by reducing the pressure most patients with canaloplasty are able to stop some or all of their drops.Then whatever issues they are having for their drops be it be expense, lifestyle involvement, irritation, are also reduced.

Sick of High IOPs? Tired of taking Drops?

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