How do I apply eye drops?

To apply your eye drops:

1. First sit down comfortably.
2. Shake the bottle a few times (some medications are suspensions and need to be shaken prior to use).
3. Put your head back and look up while pulling your lower lid down.
4. Aim the bottle tip over your eye and drop the eye drop. Avoid touching your eye lashes with the tip of the eye-dropper. Try to avoid dropping excess amounts of drops in your eye which will just be wasted.
5. Wipe away any excess drops with a wet tissue (not a dry one) to wipe away any drop residue from your skin. In the case of some drops (eg. Travatan Z®, Duotrav®, Lumigan RC®, Xalatan® and Xalacom® and their generic equivalents), eye drop residue can cause darkening of the skin. Using a wet tissue to wipe the excess away will help prevent this temporary side effect (darkening disappears if the eye drop is stopped).
6. Press the tissue in the corner of your eye near your nose for 1 minute to avoid drainage of the drop into your nose and throat. This will prevent side effects to your body.
7. If you are taking more than one drop, wait a minimum of 2 minutes between drops before applying the next one. This will ensure that each drop has some time to be absorbed.

For a downloadable brochure on how to apply drops:

www.glaucomaresearch.ca/resources/brochures