Using Eye Drops Correctly After LASIK

Monday, August 28th, 2017, 10:00 am

After undergoing laser vision correction (LASIK), you will need to use eye drops. These are antibiotic drops that should be applied four times a day for a week, followed by steroid drops to be used sparingly over two weeks. Your ophthalmologist will come up with a schedule to help you know when to put your drops in. Besides knowing when to use the drops, you’ll also need to know how to put them in.

To correctly use eye drops following laser vision correction, follow the tips below:

• First, you will need to carefully wash your hands. This ensures that you are touching your eyes with clean, well-scrubbed hands.

• After a thorough washing, take your eye drops and sit down on a couch, a chair, or your bed. Then, tilt your head back and look at the ceiling.

• Carefully open the bottle of eye drops without touching the tip of the dropper. Even though your hands are clean, you still shouldn’t touch the tip.

• Hold the dropper over your eye and gently pull down your lower eyelid with your finger.

• Place the dropper as close to your eye as you can without touching the eye itself, the eyelid, or eyelashes.

• Give the dropper a careful squeeze to release only a drop of fluid. The fluid should fall into the lower pocket of your eyelid since you are holding it open with your finger.

• Gently let go of your eyelid and close your eye for about 30 seconds. Count in your head and make sure you are counting slowly so as to get as close to 30 seconds as possible.

• Do not blink. This can cause the liquid medication to escape and run down your cheek. If you do blink instead of closing your eye for 30 seconds, you are negating the whole process.

• Repeat the process for the other eye.

• Tightly close the bottle of eye drops and put in a safe place until you need to use it again.

Using drops after laser vision correction is an important part of the aftercare process. Remember that, unless otherwise instructed, only use one drop per eye. When you open the eye’s lower lid with your finger to administer the drop, that area can only hold so much, so adding more will be a waste of medication. If you believe that your eye drops have become contaminated and could therefore cause an infection, contact your ophthalmologist to get a new prescription.

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Category: Lasik Eye Surgery FAQs