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Using Medicine
Eyedrops
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* The videos are fairly large and depending on your connection speed may take a few minutes to load. If you experience a choppy or broken play-back of the video your connection speed may be too slow to utilize streaming video. In this case we would suggest that you download the video entirely before beginning to view it. To download the video place the cursor over the preferred video link and click the right button on the mouse, select the 'Save Target As' or 'Save Link As' option, and save the video to your personal computer. Upon completion of the download play the video in the player of your choice.
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Step by Step Instructions
- Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water.
- Check the dropper tip to make sure that it is not chipped or cracked.
- Avoid touching the dropper tip against your eye or anything else. Eye drops and droppers
must be kept clean.
- While tilting your head back, pull down the lower lid of your eye with your index finger
to form a pocket (see figure).
- Hold the dropper (tip down) with the other hand, as close to the eye as possible
without touching it.
- Brace the remaining fingers of that hand against your face.
- Gently squeeze the dropper so that the correct number of drops falls into the pocket made
by the lower eyelid.
- Close your eye for 2 to 3 minutes.
- Place one finger at the corner of the eye near the nose and apply gentle pressure.
This will prevent the medication from draining out of the eye. Wipe any
excess liquid from your face with a tissue.
- Replace and tighten the cap right away. Do not wipe or rinse the dropper tip.
- Wash your hands to remove any medication.
REMEMBER:
- Follow instructions carefully
- Do not miss doses
- Use the exact number of drops recommended
- Store medications out of reach of children
- If more than one type of eye drop is being used, wait at least 10 minutes before using
the next eye drop.
- If soft contact lenses are used, remove them before administering the medication and wait
at least 15 minutes before reinserting them.
Adapted, with permission, from the Michigan Pharmacists Association's Patient Education
Program. Illustration reproduced, with permission, from the Atlas of Primary
Eyecare Procedures, Appleton Lange, Norwalk, CT, 1997.
Additional Tips for Using Eye Drops
- Follow label instructions carefully.
- Do not miss doses.
- Use the exact number of drops recommended by your doctor.
- Store medications out of reach of children.
- If more than one type of eye drop medication is being used, wait at least 10 minutes before instilling the next eye drop medication.
- If you wear soft contact lenses, remove them before administering the medication and wait at least 15 minutes after instilling eye drops before reinserting the lenses.
Last Updated: December 2006
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Eyedrops