Connect
Eye Drop Application Techniques
I'm a 78 year old retired engineer new to glaucoma eye drop use. As engineers do, I analyzed the application procedure to achieve an overall efficiency as is done in time and motion studies.
If the objective is to apply one drop in each eye as with an eye dropper, my prescription Latanoprost bottle typically squeezes too much or too little with the first eye usually too little and the second eye too much fluid. So for now I start with the opposite eye each night to even out the flow to each eye.
My application technique to is ly flat on the bed and look at the ceiling. Then I pull back one eye lid and use the finger nail as a target reference point to find the eye ball. Gravity then distributes the fluid on the eye ball without much flowing out to the eye lid and cheek etc. (a good trick if your lucky).
In general I'm guessing that many people end up using way too much fluid trying to dispense from plastic prescription bottles. Since cost and prescription side effects concern me, I wish there was better single drop application control for my Latanoprost bottle.
Like
Helpful
HugInterested in more discussions like this? Go to the Eye Conditions Support Group.
Connect
As someone who has eye problems for 30 or more years, you should never drop medication onto the eyeball itself. The way I was instructed to apply drops by countless eye doctors, is to be in a standing or seated position. Tilt the head back but not all the way back, look up, then with your index finger and thumb, you gently pull the lower eyelid out. When you do that, it creates a little pocket into which the drop should land. Now with the eye dropper ready to use. You do not squeeze the bottle become they are designed to apply just one drop at a time. When it’s above the eye, tilt the bottle till it’s pointing directly down, when you do this, the liquid will load the dropper well. Here’s the only tricky spot but the longer you do this, the more accurate you’ll become. What you’re aiming for is the pouch you’re holding open. Squeeze gently and a single drop should land in the pouch, do not drop onto the eyeball. Once the drop lands in the pouch, close your eye, then rotate your eyeball with the eyelid closed. This is to make sure the medication is evenly spread over the entire surface. I’ve had some dangerous eye conditions that could have blinded me, so the medication had to be applied correctly. I bet I must have applied way over 100,000 drops. I still have to apply drops multiple drops each day. Hope this helps.
@becky1024