Eye drops for dry eye

When Are Eye Drops Useful?

Eye drops are useful as relief from symptoms of dry eye, such as dry or irritated-feeling eyes. Dry eye has a wide variety of causes, but eye drops tend to be most useful for milder cases, where the dry eye is caused by things like a dry climate, fatigue, over wearing contact lenses for an extended period. 

Eye drops also often contain electrolytes, essential minerals like potassium, sodium, and calcium. Potassium and sodium in particular, being part of your natural tears, help lubricate the eyes and can help the eye surface.

Eye drops are an over-the-counter product meant to provide temporary relief from symptoms, and will not treat the underlying cause of your dry eye if there is one, such as meibomian gland dysfunction or blepharitis.

Not a Catch-All Treatment

Eye drops will not always be sufficient for alleviating your dry eye symptoms. In those cases, you can try other, stronger solutions, such as over the counter gels or ointments for dry eye. Since they are thicker than eye drops, their effects last longer, though they can make it a bit harder to see. For that reason, doctors often recommend using these products before going to bed.

Choosing the Right Drops

Not all over-the-counter eye drops qualify as artificial tears. You should avoid using certain types of eye drops unless specifically recommended by a doctor. 

Specific types of eye drops you should avoid include:

Allergy eye drops: These eye drops are designed for providing relief from allergy symptoms when the eyes are exposed to allergens like mold, dust, or pollen. These drops are not meant to provide relief from dry eye symptoms. Although, artificial tears can help with symptoms of eye allergies.

Antibiotic eye drops: Antibiotic eye drops are meant for treating eye infections and are generally prescription-only, and may not provide proper relief from dry eye.

Redness-relieving eye drops: These eye drops are only meant for treating temporary eye redness, such as that caused by allergies, smoke irritation, or contact lenses. If these drops are used too often, however, they can cause rebound redness, which makes the eyes look even redder than before. For this reason, doctors recommend only using these drops occasionally and for short periods. Eye drops which are preservative-free may be more helpful for reducing redness than regular use of redness-relieving drops.

Use of Eye Drops if You Wear Contact Lenses

Many people find that artificial tears help treat the dryness caused by regular wearing of contact lenses. Before you do so, however, there are a few things you should keep in mind.

First, make sure you can use the drops while wearing your contacts. In most cases it is safe to do so. However, some types, specifically the thicker formulations, will tell you to wait at least 15 minutes before inserting your contact lenses. Be sure to read the information on the product labels.

Rewetting drops are specifically designed to increase eye comfort while wearing contacts. They will be labeled “for contact lenses,” and are usually sold near contact lens cleaning solutions.

In all cases, talk to your doctor if you suspect a link between your contact lenses and dry eye. The material used in contact lenses can help with symptoms, and certain types of contacts, such as daily disposable lenses, can also be helpful