Top 10 common mistakes when using eye drops

Like almost all solutions or pharmaceutical products, eye drops have a shelf life. However, due to ignorance or regret, many people still intentionally use eye drops to use them all. This will backfire and harm your eyes. Besides, there are some eye drops only use within 15 days since opening the lid. After 15 days, if you still need treatment, ask your doctor whether to continue using the unfinished solution or buy a new vial. Not caring about the expiration date of eye drops is also one of the causes of an increase in eye diseases.

Usually, the shelf life of the solution printed on the package can sometimes be up to several years, but in fact it is only the shelf life when the solution has not been opened. Solution that has been opened and started to use is only effective if used within a short time of about 15 days from the first day of use. According to experts, you should not use eye drops if you have opened the lid for more than 1 month. In particular, if you continue to use these solutions, it can affect your vision, bring the opposite effects to your eyes.

Do not wash your hands before using eye drops This is one of the most common mistakes anyone can make. Do not touch your eyes directly or may not touch the tip of the eye dropper vial. But, bacteria or dirt on your hands can completely stick to the solution bottle or get into your eyes when you use it. Therefore, it is better to wash your hands when applying eye drops.

As noted above, the eyedropper bottle is very susceptible to infection, in addition, the eye is an easy environment for infection if the solution is not used. Wash your hands thoroughly before touching the vial to prevent bacteria from spreading from your hands to the vial and into your eyes. A job that seems very simple, but many people still do it. Remember to wash your hands before doing anything, especially eye drops.

The time of season change between the dry season and the rainy season is favorable for the growth of bacteria and molds. Many diseases often break out during this time, including eye disease. In order for the eye drops to have the maximum therapeutic effect, the patient needs to be given detailed instructions on how to use it. The user needs to know the time interval between drug administration, the method of instillation of the solution as well as how to store it.

After instilling eye drops, many people often throw away the solution indiscriminately. This is also something to pay attention to. Usually, common, normal, All eye drops should be stored in a cool, dry place away from direct sunlight. For some eye drops that contain chloramphenicol, you need to keep them in the refrigerator. Proper storage of eye drops is also a way to help the effectiveness of the solution always reach the highest level.

One of the common mistakes when using eye drops solution That is, sharing eye drops with other people. This case is quite common. To save money or be afraid to go out to buy, many people often use the same eye drops, especially those who live in the same house. This is the fastest and shortest way for bacteria and dirt to pass from person to person, causing eye diseases.

Eye drops solution can be used to treat many eye related problems. For example, you will need prescription eye drops for an eye infection, eye injury, or an eye condition such as glaucoma. Sometimes, you also use over-the-counter eye drops to relieve dry or red eyes. Depending on the reason, the duration of use of these products may be short or long. However, you should not share it with others.

Wear contact lenses when instilling eye drops is one of the common mistakes when using eye drops. Contact lenses may interfere with product absorption, reducing its effectiveness. Therefore, it is best to remove contact lenses before instilling eye drops to increase the effectiveness of use as much as possible.

This is the basic mistake of many people who use contact lenses when using eye drops because they think that they do not need to remove contact lenses and feel bothered when they have to remove contact lenses. Using eye drops while wearing contact lenses will interfere with the absorption of eye drops, thereby reducing its effectiveness.

Eye drops include many auxiliary ingredients, preservatives, antibiotics… These substances will have the potential to cause side effects such as cataracts, eye perforation, optic nerve atrophy… if you use too much. Many people, when they see red, lumpy eyes… also buy medicine for themselves. However, the signs of tired eyes are also easily confused with eye diseases. Therefore, you need to be very careful, Do not abuse eye drops.

Especially dangerous if indiscriminate use of eye drops containing corticosteroids. Users find that after using it, they quickly reduce symptoms of inflammation and itching, so they use it regularly without knowing that long-term use of these products can cause glaucoma, cataracts, and vision loss. Common complications in ophthalmology are corneal ulcers aggravated by inappropriate use of cortisone, blindness due to cortisone glaucoma due to prolonged abuse of cortisone by patients without a doctor’s prescription.

Every day, the eyes are often exposed to a lot of dust or disease-causing factors that exist in the air. In the process of eye drops, the vial of eye drops that touches the eyes will cause bacteria, dirt or fluid in the eyes to stick to the vial, exist and cause harm back to the eyes in the next use. . Besides, touching the tip of the solution bottle to the eyes can also cause scratches and damage to the eyes. So please remember Do not let the eye drops come into contact with your eyes when instilled.

Proper eye drops are one of the ways to take care of your eyes. The correct eye drop technique is to drop the solution into the corner of the eye near the nose, then close the eyes and use a (clean) finger to gently rub the area where the eyes and nose are in contact so that the solution can slowly spread. go out. Once the medicine has entered your eyes, you should not blink too much or too quickly, only blink moderately, and if you can’t stand it without blinking, then you should close your eyes for 1-2 days. minute.

Usually, we only need to instill a vial of eye drops. Using many types of eye drops at the same time can be harmful to the eyes, cause eye burning, tearing, reducing the effectiveness of the product, causing eye mucosal damage. In special cases, if you are using more than one eye drop solution at the same time, you should pay attention to the time between instillation of the different medications. However, the advice for you is to use an eye drop solution that is best suited for one treatment.

If you are using more than one eye drop solution at the same time, you should have a break between instilling different solutions. After instilling the prescribed solution, you can wait 30 minutes and then apply the over-the-counter solution. Different solutions may interact with each other, causing burning or watering of the eyes, and reducing the effectiveness of the medication. If your prescription solution only needs to be applied once a day, you will have all day to apply the rest of the solutions. Talk to your doctor to find out the best time interval between drops.

One of the common mistakes that most people make is time between two drops of solution too fast. If the instructions for use on the vial of the solution say to put 4 drops in about 6 hours, this does not mean that you will be instilling 4 drops of eye drops at once. Continuous application of eye drops is both wasteful and can be harmful to your eyes. Therefore, apply the drops slowly to give the eye time to absorb the medicine. In cases of severe eye infection, there may be an interval of about 30 minutes between instillations.

Many people think that eye drops can be used all the time, or just used when the eyes feel uncomfortable and itchy. However, this is not true, depending on the dosage form of the eye drops and the condition of the disease, the time between 2 uses will be different. To determine exactly how much time between eye drops you need to follow exactly as prescribed by your doctor when using eye drops. For example, with eye drops for glaucoma treatment, the interval between 2 eye drops can last up to 24 hours.

Many people arbitrarily buy eye drops when symptoms of pain, pain or dry eyes appear without knowing that it can affect eye health in the future, can even be dangerous to the eyes if used. misused. Even carelessly small at any time, any part of the eye.

Technique of instilling eye drops It is best to drop the solution into the corner of the eye, near the nose, then close the eyes, gently rub the eye and nose position with your finger so that the solution can easily spread slowly. Besides, once the solution has been put into your eyes, you should not blink too much or too quickly. Some people mistakenly believe that blinking makes the solution better absorbed. That’s a mistake. You should only blink gently, preferably with your eyes closed for about 1 to 2 minutes.