How to instill eye drops correctly

Time itself comes in drops — William James

Dear Readers,

Last week we spoke about using your eye drops correctly. If you use the appropriate technique, you can administer eye drops both comfortably and efficiently. Let’s discuss how to instill the drops correctly.

Here is a list of things that you might need, along with your eye drops – a mirror, tissues, a hand towel and antibacterial soap.

Here is the correct way to use eye drops:

1. Use the antibacterial soap to wash your hands thoroughly.

2. Stand or sit in front of your mirror.

3. Take off the top of the eye drop bottle.

4. Bend your head back and pull your lower eyelid down as gently as possible.

5. Hold the dropper of the bottle over one eye and squeeze a drop inside the lower eyelid. Don’t touch your eyes or eyelashes with the tip of the dropper. In fact, don’t touch anything else with it.

6. Once you’ve used the dropper let go of your eyelid and blink a few times, so that the drop spreads evenly over the surface of your whole eye.

7. Use a tissue to wipe away the excess liquid that may fall onto your cheeks.

8. If prescribed for both eyes, repeat the process with your other eye.

9. If you are supposed to use more than one drop, wait for a couple of minutes before repeating the procedure. If you put it in too quickly, the second drop might wash away the first one. Giving the first drop time to settle is effective and very important.

10. To avoid tasting the drops running down your throat, press the area between your inner eyelids and your nose for at least 1 minute. Yes, there is a connection between your eyes, nose and throat. This is especially important for breast feeding mothers.

Remember, healing is 10 per cent the doctor and 90 per cent the patient. Practice makes perfect. Have a good week.

Dr Kenneth Onu is a resident Consultant Ophthalmologist at the Beachmont Eye Institute/Eyes R Us Send questions to: Beachmont@gmail.com
Tel: 784 456-1210