We often recommend lubricating eye drops to our patients for minor irritations. But our favourite trick to increase the efficacy of lubricating eye drops is to put them in the fridge!
What is the benefit of keeping your eye drops cold?
Often, a mild irritation results in some redness and inflammation of the eye, and one natural way of treating inflammation is with something cold. The lower temperature also helps to temporarily shrink the blood vessels which help make the eye less red.
For some patients who are inexperienced at using eye drops, the cold feeling also helps them to confirm whether or not the drop went into their eye or if it missed and hit their cheek instead.
Lastly, keeping your eye drops in the fridge can help to keep them fresh longer!
There are exceptions of course, and some drops may congeal if put in the fridge, so please check the labels!
If you are having ongoing eye irritation that is not going away, we'd advise booking an exam with one of our doctors to make sure it's not something more serious!
By Dr. Peter Chan, OD.
Stay tuned for more tips, tricks, and answers to your frequently answered questions! In the meantime, if you haven’t had your eyes checked in a while, why not use our handy exam request form and make an appointment with one of our friendly optometrists?
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