- What are eye drops designed for dry eyes?
- Why are they important?
- What about preservatives in eye drops?
- What eye drops should you choose for relief?
This article will briefly cover all this of this
What are eye drops designed for dry eyes
Certain eye drops are specifically engineered to provide optimal relief for dry eyes. These drops contain ingredients that help lubricate and hydrate the ocular surface.
Think of it like different vehicles traveling down various roads to reach the same destination—hydration and relief for your dry eyes.
Some common ingredients that you might notice in an eye drop designed for dry eyes are:
- Polyethylene glycol (PEG)
- Carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC)
- Hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HMC)
In general, the most effective ingredient to relieve your dry eye symptoms would be
PEG > CMC > HMC
As well, the lower osmolarity of an eye drop, and higher the liposome concentration the more effective it is as well. (R)
Why are these eye drops important?
Artificial tears help to supplement lubrication on the corneal surface and minimize dry eye symptoms. However, it can take up to four months of use, four times a day of consistent use to have any benefits.
If there is no relief after one month, it might be time to look at alternative options. (R)
What about preservatives?
Preservatives are additional chemicals put into eye drops to lengthen the shelf-life of the eye drop.
These are a problem because it can enhance the risk of burning / stinging / foreign body sensation / conjunctival redness (R).
On the flip side, preservative free eye drops have been well documented to have a much healthier ocular surface and higher tolerability (R)
One of the most toxic preservatives to the corneal surface is Benzalkonium chloride which can cause damage as low as 0.0001% with more serious toxic effects being apparent at even higher concentrations (R)
Some recent preservatives such as Polyquad; Purite and SofZia, are less toxic than benzalkonium chloride. However, their impact on DED patients needs to be further investigated (R)
What eye drops should you get?
I always recommend any dry eye patient to start with a preservative free option, and then we can bring in more aggressive treatment options for them.
I personally have had good results for my patients trying Thealoz duo and Hylogel.
Conclusion
The best eye drops to try are preservative free! Use them four times a day for one month, and if they have not provided relief by that time – look at alternative options.