Administering Eye Drops

Patient Information Leaflet

Introduction

This leaflet explains how to put drops into your eyes.

Instructions

• Wash your hands.
• Take off the top of the bottle.
• Bend your head backwards, or preferably lie flat and gently pull your lower eye lid down.
• Hold the dropper bottle vertical above one eye, this will help the drop come out of the bottle more easily.
• Squeeze one drop into the pocket formed by pulling down the lower eye lid (see figure 1). Try not to touch your eye, eye lashes or anything else with the dropper tip.

• Let go of the eye lid and continue leaning your head backwards for a couple of minutes and blink normally. This allows the drops to absorb properly. Your healthcare professional will show you how to do this.
• Wipe away any liquid that falls onto your cheek with a tissue after a minute.
• Repeat in the other eye if the drop is prescribed for both eyes.
• When two different eye drop preparations are used at the same time of day, wait for at least ten minutes before putting the second preparation into the eye.
• This allows the first preparation to ‘settle in’ and not be washed out by the second one if it is put in too quickly.

If you have any questions after reading this leaflet:

Please contact the Urgent Referral Clinic team at Russells Hall Hospital Eye Clinic on: 01384 456111 ext. 3633 (9am to 4.30pm, Monday to Friday).

Eye emergency, out of hours

In case of an eye emergency after the closing hours of the Eye Clinic at Russells Hall (including weekends and bank holidays), please contact:

Birmingham and Midland Eye Centre on 0121 507 4440

The doctor on call is usually based at the Eye Centre, City Hospital, Dudley Road, Birmingham. They may need to call you back, and if necessary, they will arrange for you to visit them.

Note: The information in this booklet is provided for information only. The information found is not a substitute for professional medical advice or care by a qualified doctor or other health care professional. Always check with your doctor if you have any concerns about your condition or treatment. This is only indicative and general information for the procedure. Individual experiences may vary and all the points may not apply to all patients at all times. Please discuss your individual circumstances with your eye doctor.

Author: Julia Phillips – Advanced Glaucoma Practitioner, NMP

If you have any questions, or if there is anything you do not understand, please contact the Russells Hall Hospital switchboard number on 01384 456111 and ask for the relevant department who issued this leaflet.

If you have any feedback on this patient information leaflet please email dgft.patient.information@nhs.net

This leaflet can be made available in large print, audio version and in other languages, please call 0800 073 0510.

Eye drops JP/ST/09 2022/v4 – review 06 2027 DGH/PIL/02030