Choosing over-the-counter eye drops for a dry-eye patient boils down to: the severity of the disease and the form of dry eye.
If you suffer from dry eye, seeing your doctor is a must! Why continue to be in chronic discomfort when you can find relief? Our eyes are precious and we don’t want anything to get worse than it already is.
One of the remedies your doctor might suggest to you if you have dry eyes are eye drops. They will help lubricate and alleviate discomfort to this very sensitive part of our bodies. Remember that self-diagnosing can be harmful, the purpose of the information and advice below is to educate our readers, not to diagnose them.
So let’s delve right into today’s topic. The truth is, not all eye drops are created equal! When choosing an eye drop for a patient, doctors generally consider three questions:
- Does the patient have more of an aqueous deficiency, mixed disease or an evaporative form of dry eye?
- How severe is it?
- Based on disease severity and dosing, is the optimum artificial tear for this patient preserved or not preserved?
The differences between preserved and non-preserved drops:
The choice between a preservative and preservative-free drop comes down to the number of drops instilled in the eye daily. It would be ideal for patients who use tears more than four times a day or who have severe dry eye to use a preservative-free artificial tear.
So why are preservatives in artificial tears anyways?
The purpose of preservatives is to keep bacteria from growing in the bottle once they’re opened.Why use non-preserved eye drops?
New and innovative technology has permitted companies to create one way valves in bottles, blocking anything from going in, and that’s how they are able to avoid adding preservatives to their drops (Hylo and Thealoz Duo drops have this mechanism).
Eye Drop Shop offers Thealoz Duo, an affordable and preservative-free all-in-one drop for all types of dry eye. As far as artificial tears go, this drop provides excellent prolonged hydration and lasting protection for optimal dry eye relief!
Your eyes deserve to be treated with the utmost TLC! One thing’s for sure, stay far away from tears that claim to make your eyes white. These drops act as a band aid and can be detrimental to your eye’s health in the long term and it’s simply not worth it.
Thankfully, there are plenty of affordable, preservative-free drops out there to help you with your dry eye relief – happy shopping!
XO The Eye Drop Shop Team
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Sources:
1. https://www.reviewofophthalmology.com/article/otc-drops-telling-the-tears-apart
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