Time itself comes in drops — William James

Using your eye drops correctly means that you use the appropriate technique; you can administer eye drops both comfortably and efficiently.  Let us 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:

• Use the antibacterial soap to wash your hands thoroughly.

• Stand or sit in front of your mirror.

• Take off the top of the eye drop bottle.

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

• Hold the dropper of the bottle over one eye and squeeze a drop inside the lower eyelid. Do not touch your eyes or eyelashes with the tip of the dropper. In fact, do not touch anything else with it.

• Once you have 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.

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

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

• 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.

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

Remember healing is 10% the doctor and 90% the patient. Practice makes perfect.

“REMEMBER TO KEEP AN EYE ON YOUR EYES”

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Dr Ken Onu

Consultant Ophthalmologist at Beachmont Eye institute/Eyes R Us

Dr Ken Onu is the CEO and Founder of the Beachmont Eye institute/Eyes R Us. Apart from being a passionate Eye Doctor he is a Public Speaker and Author. He writes frequently on and offline on Eye Care and his other passion: Transformational Growth

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