How to Choose Eye Drops?
When symptoms such as dry eyes occur, many people will use eye drops on their own. In fact, this practice is not scientific. When these symptoms occur, we should close our eyes and rest properly to reduce the time of using our eyes; consciously increase the number of blinks; avoid exposure to smoke and dust, quit smoking or stay away from smokers; try to replace contact lenses with frame glasses; increase the humidity around the eyes, can be appropriate hot compress, promote eye blood circulation.
If these measures can not alleviate dry eye symptoms, you can choose artificial tear eye drops under the guidance of doctors or professionals. For dry eyes with itchy eyes, it is better to go to the hospital for regular examination to exclude spring catarrhal conjunctivitis.
At present, there are many eye drops on the market. These drugs usually contain sodium hyaluronate, chondroitin sulfate, allantoin, and other smooth ingredients. Some also contain vitamins, hyaluronic acids, and other nutrients.
Such eye drops should not be blindly trusted, artificial tears containing preservatives cannot be used for a long time, in order to avoid adverse effects on corneal epithelium, preferably through the guidance of doctors or professionals.
Eye drops should be discontinued as soon as red eyes and eye pain occur during the use of the eye drops. Eye drops after opening cannot be reused after one month.
Do not underestimate dry eyes, improper handling may also cause serious complications, eventually leading to visual impairment. If you feel dry eyes for a long time, then it’s better to go to the hospital to see, in case other diseases cause dry eyes.
Doctors will first do a comprehensive eye examination to see if any past diseases may cause dry eyes. Doctors may also be able to measure how many tears a patient can shed. The test is called the Hillmer test. The doctor will stick the sterile filter paper on the lower eyelid and after five minutes, see how many tears the filter paper can absorb. Then the doctor will check the quality of the tears.
Doctors test the patient’s eyeball surface with eye drops containing special stains. By observing the staining and duration of the cornea, the doctor can get more information about the patient’s tears.
If the medication causes dry eyes, the doctor may advise the patient to change the medication. If the cause is eyelid ectropion, surgery may be performed. Sometimes, the solution of incentives can completely eliminate dry eyes. Doctors may also prescribe the following drugs for treatment:
Eye anti-inflammatory drugs:
Inflammation at the edge of the eyelid prevents the glands from secreting oil and tears from keeping the eyes moist. To address this problem, doctors may prescribe antibiotics to reduce inflammation. Generally, antibiotics are taken orally, but a few are eye drops or ointments.
Eye drops for keratoconjunctivitis:
Inflammation on the surface of the eye can be treated with eye drops containing cyclosporine or glucocorticoid. However, glucocorticoid cannot be used for a long time, otherwise, it will cause adverse reactions, so it must be used in accordance with the doctor’s advice.
Ophthalmological insertion tablets:
If there are moderate to severe dry eyes, and artificial tears do not work, then we can consider the effect similar to artificial tears insertion tablets. The insert is placed between the lower eyelid and the eyeball, which slowly decomposes and releases medicines to keep the eyeball moist. One tablet a day.
Drugs that stimulate tear secretion:
Cholinergic drugs can promote tear secretion. Cholinergic drugs include oral medicine, gel, and eye drops. But the side effect is a lot of sweating.
Eye drops made from your own blood:
This drug is called autologous serum eye drops. People with severe dry eye disease and other treatment effects are not good, you can choose these eye drops. It is made by removing red blood cells from the patient’s own blood and adding normal saline.
