Artificial tears are a type of eye drops that are utilized to relieve dry eyes and maintain moisture on the eyes’ outer surface. Dry eyes can be brought about by aging, some medical conditions, particular medications, eye surgery, or certain environmental triggers like smoke or wind.
Artificial tears eye drops are available over the counter and not one brand has superiority over the others in terms of effectiveness. You will need to try out a couple of brands until you find the best one for you.
Aside from keeping your eyes lubricated, some eye drops can stimulate the healing of your eyes while others function to minimize the evaporation of tears. Artificial tears solution may consist of a thickening substance that allows the fluid to retain for a longer duration on your eye.
There are different types of artificial tears. Here are the two categories:
Eye drops that contain preservatives – often, these are the ones that come in a multidose bottle, containing chemicals to prevent bacteria from growing in an opened bottle. The chemicals in this type of eye drops might irritate your eyes, especially when your eyes are moderate to severely dry.
Preservative-free eye drops – this contains lesser additives, and it is more commonly recommended if the application of eye drops is done four times per day or more, or when your eyes are moderate to severely dry. These come in single-dose containers.
It is highly recommended to talk to your optometrist Bellingham, WA for the best eye drops that you can use.