Eye drops are an important part of treatment for most glaucoma patients, but eye drops can be surprisingly difficult to administer. It's easy to end up missing your eye or getting too many drops in at once, and if you have neck problems or weakness or pain in your hands, getting into position to administer the drops and squeezing the bottle can be even more difficult. Take a look at some tips that can help ensure that your eyes get the medication they need.
One Drop at a Time
If you have to administer several drops, your instinct may be to get them all into your eye as fast as possible, especially if you have difficulty with drops in the first place. But when you put drops in too quickly, the second drop can wash away the first before your eye has a chance to absorb the medicine.
It's important to put in just one drop at a time. Once you've put a drop in your eye, close that eye for a few minutes. This prevents you from blinking the drop out before it can penetrate your eye and forces you to take a break before administering more drops.
Take Your Drops Lying Down
If you have difficulty tilting your head backwards because of neck problems, you can administer your eye drops while lying flat on your back. This may also help if you have a tendency to move your head at the last minute. With your head against some surface, there's less room to move out of the way. And for some patients, lying down on a comfortable surface may help you relax while you're taking your eye drops.
Consult Your Pharmacist
Having trouble squeezing the bottle? Squeezing out too many drops at once? Your problem may not be with the medicine, it may be with the bottle.
Luckily, eye drops come in bottles of all shapes and sizes, and some are more accessible than others. If the bottle is too hard for you to squeeze, your pharmacist may be able to find one that's softer and easier to squeeze. If too much comes out of the bottle too fast, you may need a bottle that's harder, or one with a differently-shaped tip. If the tiny bottle is too difficult for you to handle, the pharmacist can find you a larger one. Don't be afraid to describe the problems you're having. The pharmacist is there to help.
It also helps to talk to your doctor about any difficulty you have administering eye drops. Your doctor can observe your technique and give you tips to make your eye drop regimen more effective. Companies like Coastal Eye Care can help with your eye care needs.
Share28 July 2017
When was the last time you went to an optometrist? If you are like most people, you only go when your glasses break or you run out of contact lenses. Very few people actually follow the guidelines of having their eyes checked each year. Not sure why it is necessary to visit your optometrist each year? You can learn all about the different exams and tests that your optometrist runs and why they are done. Knowing what can go wrong with your eyes and what can be done if the ailments are detected early could help to encourage you to get to the optometrist more often.
