#110: Best Artificial Tear for Dry Eyes
Many of my patients ask me about using artificial tears. There are so many of them on the market. It's hard to know which ones to use.
Based on the research provided by the Tear Film and Ocular Surface (TFOS) Society, I advocate using Artificial Tears on a daily basis to care for your dry eyes. TFOS wrote a report called the Dry Eye Workshop (DEWS II) Report that utilized the expertise of 150 clinicians and scientists from around the world to compile all of the literature available in the dry eye space and write a consensus on how to treat dry eyes.
The TFOS DEWS II report advises using 4 steps to care for your dry eyes daily:
1. Every day, the first step is to hydrate your eyes with an artificial tear.
2. The second step is to clean the lids and lashes.
3. The third step is to heat or warm up the eyelids with a warm compress, the unclog mask is my favorite.
4. The fourth step is to reduce the inflammation in your eyes using a vitamin supplement. HydroEye provides the building blocks your body needs to produce healthy tears.
The first step in the dry eye protocol is to hydrate the eye using an artificial tear. A couple of times a day, replenish the tear film on the front surface of your eye.
I always recommend using a preservative-free tear. Until about 2 years ago, all preservative-free drops came in a little tube. The small tube kept the contents sterile. You would use one drop in each eye, and then discard the tube with the remainder of the contents. This wasted a lot of drops and used lots of little plastic vials.
More recently, a multi-dose preservative-free bottle was introduced to the market. Now, you have the benefits of using preservative-free with the convenience of a bottle containing 300 doses of drops. Win-Win.
There are some major differences in artificial tears that make some of them better than others. Here are a few rules to follow when choosing an artificial tear:
1) Preservative-free is always best
Preservatives enable the drops to last longer in a bottle. They prevent bacteria from growing so you can use the same bottle over and over again. However, they can be irritating to someone who is suffering from dry eyes.
When your eyes are dry, they are already sensitive. Adding preservatives into the eye can exacerbate the problem. And, preserved tears should never be used on contact lenses because the lens will hold onto the preservatives.
2) Oil-based Tears are not for use with contact lenses
Oil-based tears feel great in the eye. The oils extend the time the tears stay on the eye. They are especially great for patients who have Meibomian Gland Dysfunction (MGD) because they tend to have less oil in their tear film. However, the oils can attach themselves to the surface of the contact lens and blur your vision.
My Favorite Artificial Tear
Wouldn't it be great to have the staying power of an oil-based tear that didn't leave an oily residue behind? And, wouldn't it be great to have the gentleness of a preservative-free tear in the convenience of a multi-dose bottle?
Yes, everything we have wished for in an artificial tear has been made available to us in the U.S. Thanks to Scope Eye Care, an Irish company, we know have the best artificial tear available in a bottle in the form of Optase Dry Eye Intense drops.
What Makes Optase Different?
Optase Dry Eye Intense drops are special. They are different from any other artificial tear that you've taken before because they contain Hyaluronic Acid. Hyaluronic Acid is a clear gel that is naturally produced by your body. Hyaluronic acid can be found working hard in our skin, connective tissue, and eyes to retain water to keep the tissues well lubricated and moist.
The formulation of Optase Dry Eye Intense drops creates a water-rich shield that protects the surface of the eye. It works with your natural tears by binding the water in your tears to the surface of your eye. This reduces the evaporation of the water and increases comfort. Plus, there is very little blurring of the vision.
Additionally, these drops come in a preservative-free bottle. It contains 300 drops so you won't have to worry about bringing enough vials with you. The final and best benefit of the Optase Dry Eye Intense drops is the way it feels on your eyes. They're super lubricating and feel soothing to the eyes. Unlike other drops that you've tried before, they won't feel like they just wear off in a few minutes. These drops last a lot longer and keep your eyes feeling hydrated.
CONCLUSION
The hyaluronic acid in Optase Dry Eye Intense drops actually draws moisture and binds it to the eye so that you feel soothed and moist for a longer period of time. And, they are preservative-free so you can use them as often as you'd like. These drops are available without a prescription. You can pick them up over the counter at a CVS pharmacy in the US, or you can order them online here.
