How to Preserve Vision With Eye Drops

Whether to ease dry eyes, allergies or glaucoma, eye drops are often an important treatment for vision conditions. Eye drops, primarily made of saline, may contain a variety of other ingredients, ranging from lubricants to medications. Applying eye drops correctly is important; if you do not instill the drops correctly, the treatment will not be effective.

Things You'll Need

• Hand soap
• Refrigerator

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Instructions

Preparation

• 1

  Follow any special instructions given by your doctor before proceeding.

• 2

  Wash your hands thoroughly with soap. Make sure that the bottle or applicator is also clean to reduce the chances of eye infection.

• 3

  Chill the drops. This makes it easier to tell whether the eye drops actually went into your eye because the drops will be cold enough to feel.

Instill the drop

• 4

  Tilt your head back.

• 5

  Pull your lower eyelid down with one finger to form a small pocket below the eye. It will be more comfortable to place the drops here than directly on the eyeball.

• 6

  Gently squeeze one eye drop into the pocket of the lower eyelid. Do not let the applicator or bottle touch your skin or eye at any time. This is called "instilling" the eye drop.

Follow-up

• 7

  Close your eyes after you instill the drops. This will allow the ingredients and medication in the drops to remain in your eye longer, thus giving them more time to work. Do not blink, or the drops will probably be washed away.

• 8

  Apply gentle pressure to the inner corner of your eyelid, near the bridge of your nose. This will close off the tear ducts, reducing the flow of tears and reducing the likelihood of the drops being washed away.

• 9

  If you need to apply another type of eye drop, wait three to five minutes so that the next type of drop does not wash away the previous one.