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Every day the
TV bombards us with ads trying to sell us
eyedrops that "get the red out" or that
"clear red eyes fast.:
These are typical eye wash claims that
help companies sell millions of dollars of
their eyedrops each year.
As an eye specialist I feel that the
products making those claims are among the
least useful of all over-the-counter
drugs.
These O.T.C. eye solutions attempt to
offer a cosmetic benefit: "Get the red
out." These drugs contain a chemical
(called a vasoconstrictor) that shrinks
the blood vessel. Since the blood vessel's
main purpose is to carry oxygen and
nourishment to the eye, especially if the
eye is tired, irritated, or infected,
using these drops can be harmful,
dangerous and counterproductive.
The eyedrop users are never told about the
rebound effect. When the chemical effect
wears off, the blood vessels that have
been choked actually dilate more and look
more bloodshot. Then the unknowing eyedrop
user feels the condition has returned or
has gotten worse and falsely believes this
requires more drops, and more frequent
use, when the opposite is true.
The fact is that normal eyes do not need
cleaning, soothing, or refreshing
solutions that contain astringents,
vasoconstrictors and antiseptic chemicals.
All eyes get irritated, and simple
irritation disappears usually by the next
day. Natural human tears contain
protective enzymes and chemicals with
antibacterial properties. No synthetic
eyedrop solution can match the natural
tears. About the best that eyedrops can do
is offer a slight, brief, soothing effect.
Unfortunately, and sometimes dangerously,
using drops promoted to get rid of red
eyes can cause the very symptoms and
bloodshotness that they claim to be
treating. Furthermore, they are commonly
used as a mistaken cure or remedy when
something is truly wrong with the eyes.
Almost every day I see someone who has let
an injury or infection, or bleeding go on
for days while they were using
over-the-counter drops and hoping the
problems would go away.
These eyedrops could be criticized as
useless and a waste of money. But what
bothers ophthalmologists like me even more
is when these drops lead to the neglect of
symptoms that indicate more serious eye
troubles. These eye troubles include
glaucoma, pink eye, infection and injury.
A long list of other problems look like
"simple bloodshot eyes." Common and
innocent problems such as dry eyes or
adult granulated eyelash infections are
frequently not helped and may be made
worse by O.T.C. eyedrops.
Symptoms in the eyes such as feeling red,
hot, itchy, scratchy, bloodshot and tired
are common eye complaints that cannot be
treated effectively with these
get-the-red-out eye drops. If any of these
eye symptoms persist for more than a day
or so, the eyes should be examined by a
medical physician "ophthalmologist" or an
optometrist (O.D.). If your eye doctor
gives you a clean bill of health, he or
she also will offer suggestions for
relieving these simple irritations, which
may be caused by such things as a lack of
sleep, cigarette smoke, air pollutants or
swimming pool water. Although it's easier
said than done, avoiding these causes of
bloodshot eyes would be the first
recommendation -- the treatment of choice.
Avoidance of these causes by wearing
sunglasses with UV protection, wearing
goggles when you are swimming or avoiding
smoke-filled areas are easy remedies.
Another way to relieve "tired" eyes safely
is applying ice-cold, wet compresses for
about 10 to 15 minutes.
Of course, common medical problems such as
dry eyes would benefit from pure
artificial tears with no chemicals to get
the red out. Adult granulated eyelash
infection dandruff, another cause of the
"red, tired eye syndrome," is best treated
with simple warm washcloth friction to the
eyelashes every morning and night. This
removes the oily eyelash "dandruff" that
gets into the eyes, which is a common
cause of "red, hot, burning" eyes in
adults.
In summary, numerous problems cause the
eyes to be red and irritated.
Over-the-counter eyedrops probably do not
help, and may actually hurt the eyes. If
problems persist, then an eye exam is
required for a proper diagnosis and proper
treatment. Artificial tears, without any
get-the-red-out chemicals may prove to be
the safest and most helpful. |
