Is it safe to use eye drops every day

Unlike the medicine containing antibiotics, over-the-counter eye drops are an easy solution for daily eye irritation. It’s really a gratification the minute when you put in eye drops, however, have you noticed if you are using them over a long period of time? If so, stop doing that because eye drops are only for temporary fixes.

Types of eye drops

Eye drops can be roughly divided into two types: artificial tears and medicated drops.

Artificial tears: with electrolytes and thickeners, artificial tears are used to lubricate eyes. They can be further divided into those with preservatives and those without. Preservatives are used to prolong the shelf life of eye drops, but they can also irritate the eyes the second time. Thus, if you need to use eye drops over four times per day, choose preservative-free ones instead, which usually come in vials and should be dropped once you open them.

Medicated drops: medicated eye drops contain a sympathomimetic amine that works by suppressing the dilation of superficial blood vessels in your eye. However, as soon as you stop using them, these blood vessels may rebound on you and cause irritation again, including dryness, redness, and itching. It’s best to use them for a short time, never as a commonly-used medicine.

Other side effects

Except for the irritation we just mentioned above, using eye drops every day may lead to other side effects as well. For example, artificial tears lubricate your eyes but may wash off your natural tears at the same time. Or, they may wash off the oil layer to which natural tears stick.

In addition, using eye drops daily may mask potential problems with your eyes. You should know that eye drops only help relieve the symptoms at present, but not cure the reason behind them. If you find yourself still troubled by eye redness, dryness or irritation after using eye drops for some time, you’d better go to the eye doctor and check if there is a deeper cause underneath.

Summary

Eye drops are very convenient to help relieve your symptoms. If you suffer from eye dryness, single-use eye drops without preservative is better recommended. If you bought eye drops with preservatives, don’t use them over four times per day. For other eye irritation, you may need to use medicated eye drops. In that case, keep an eye out for your symptoms while using the drops. If it doesn’t get better, go to see your doctor for further confirmation.