• Covid-19 A Spanish study suggests that conjunctivitis could be the first detection symptom of Covid-19

The continued use of masks due to the coronavirus pandemic, added to the high concentration of pollens in the environment, makes us find ourselves in one of the times of the year when the use of eye drops is skyrocketing.

Whether it is to treat the symptoms of dry eyes or those caused by allergic conjunctivitis, many citizens are forced to resort to eye drops as a form of relief.

But are we doing it correctly?

If you are one of those who have to resort to them frequently, I invite you to continue reading to become an expert in this route of drug administration.

Is there a trick so that the eye does not close when taking the drop?

Something quite common is that we are not able to keep our eye open, at least long enough to be able to drop the drop of eye drops.

There are people who are unable to do so, and it gives a family member or friend a hard time who has to give them the drop trying to keep their eye open by force.

This is not only totally discouraged, but we can even cause an injury to the eye such as a corneal ulcer.

The "trick" to successfully administering the eye drop is very simple: the first thing to do is ask the patient to tilt their head back.

Then we will hold the bottle of eye drops with the dominant hand, and finally, with the help of the index finger of the other hand, we will lower the lower eyelid.

By doing it in this way, we will be able to open a small space where we will let the drop fall calmly and safely.

After putting in the eye drops, is it advisable to keep the eye closed or blink?

It is best to leave it closed for about a minute.

A fairly widespread myth assures that, just after dropping the drop of eye drops, we must blink several times so that the drug is well distributed throughout the eye.

This is not necessary since the drug spreads perfectly despite having the eye closed and, on the contrary, excessive blinking can cause us to expel part of the drug out of the eye.

Sometimes, when you squeeze the bottle, instead of one drop several fall.

It is dangerous?

If your doctor has prescribed a drop of eye drops, and when you mistakenly administer it, two or three fall into your eye, nothing happens.

We are not subjecting the person to a drug overdose nor is it going to have consequences beyond the fact that we are

wasting product, since the eye will simply expel them and they will run down the cheek.

Let's think that each drop of eye drops consists of an approximate volume of 25 or 50 microliters, double if two drops fall, but the capacity of the eye to retain that drug is about 10 microliters.

Everything in excess of those ten will be irretrievably expelled from the eye.

I have to use two different eye drops at the same time, how do I do it?

If the prescription indicates that we must instill two or more different eye drops at the same time, we will do so with a difference of five or ten minutes between them to allow their correct absorption.

What if it is an eye drop and ointment?

If what coincides at the same time are a drop of eye drops and an ophthalmic ointment, then we must first apply the eye drops.

Once five or ten minutes have elapsed since its instillation, we will apply the ointment.

Can eyedrops be shared with other family members?

In no case.

Both eye drops and eye ointments are always for personal use.

They are sterile preparations, and the area of ​​application should not contact the eye or eyelid, but it is relatively common for this to happen without realizing it and sharing eye drops with other people could easily aggravate the eye problem.

Once opened, do the eye drops always go to the fridge?

This is another one of those fairly widespread myths about eye drops.

Once opened, we will keep the eye drops in the home refrigerator only if it is indicated in the package insert.

When reading it, we will also look at its duration, which is generally one month from opening, and we will write down the date on the container so as not to exceed it.

How is it possible that you notice a strange taste in your mouth with some eye drops?

That just after the administration of an ophthalmic drop we perceive, in some cases, a strange taste in the mouth is something perfectly normal that should not worry us.

The tear duct of the eye communicates internally with the mouth and throat through the nasal passage, through which part of the drug can sometimes leak.

I wear contact lenses, do I have to take them off to put in the eye drops?

In the market we find some brands of artificial tears that specify on the packaging that they are compatible with the use of soft contact lenses.

Except for these cases, we must remove them before applying eye drops for two main reasons: they can prevent proper absorption and distribution of the drug, and they can be damaged by some preservatives used in eye drops.

Once the drop is instilled, we will wait at least 20 minutes to put it back.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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