If you have chronic dry eye, computer vision syndrome or tired eyes from any sort of closeup work, choosing the best eye drops is essential to getting through the day with as few symptoms as possible. Without them, the grittiness, discomfort and tired feeling in your eyes can make even simple tasks unbearable.
There are many brands of eye drops on the market, but I’ll tell you which brand my optometrist recommended to me — and why he’s sold on them. They quickly became my favorite too.
Why Artificial Tears Don’t Work
Have you tried one of the products from the drugstore called “artificial tears”? Were you disappointed? I certainly was, and there’s a reason they don’t work.
Someone may have recommended that you try saline eye drops or artificial tears to relieve your chronic dry eye. You may have even found that they worked for a while, but they stopped working as your symptoms worsened or they only worked for a few minutes.
The problem with artificial tears is that they don’t stay last very long and must be reapplied every few minutes to be effective. If you have a very mild case of dry eyes, they may be enough for you. But over time, the condition can worsen to the point that saline and artificial tears don’t help.
You need something stronger. And you need something that stays in your eyes to help protect and moisten them longer.
All Lubricating Eye Drops Are Not The Same
To get the kind of long-lasting relief from chronic dry eye — no matter its cause — you need lubricating eye drops. These drops contain a special ingredient that stays in the eye to remoisten your eye every time you blink.
There’s a problem, however: The thick, oily substance in many lubricating eye drops makes your vision blurry. If you’re struggling with eye strain or the effects of aging on your eyes, the last thing you need is more blurriness.
For people with chronic dry eye caused by something other than computer usage who never do closeup work, the oily drops may effectively relieve their symptoms, and they may not notice too much blurriness. In fact, their eye doctors may recommend one of the thick brands.
For those of us who must use a computer several hours each day, though, even a little blurriness can be unbearable and make getting our work done impossible.
I Recommend What My Eye Doctor Recommends
My eye doctor wasn’t surprised when I told him artificial tears drops didn’t work very well for me. They don’t work for many of his patients with chronic dry eye symptoms bad enough to visit a doctor, he said.
He showed me a shelf full of eye drop brands that company representatives gives to him to promote. He and his patients have tried them all. Then he let me in on a secret: They all work for some people and to some degree.
But my dry eyes were because of computer vision syndrome, and I needed drops that would lubricate my eyes without making the computer monitor look blurrier. He suggested Blink Tears drops, a brand that’s proven itself to be the best eye drops for most of his patients.
Blink Tears worked well from the first day I used them. Combined with my new computer reading glasses, I’m seeing and feeling better than ever.
Keep Them Handy… Or Not
Even with effective eye drops, you have the reapply them throughout the day, especially if you continually strain and overuse your eyes (like I do).
Because taking frequent breaks also helps relieve many eye symptoms, I keep my Blink Tears drops in the next room from my computer so I have to get up to use them, forcing myself to take a break. This quick break is also a smart time to rest my eyes by focusing on objects at varying distances, have a glass of water to help keep me hydrated (which also helps with dry eye symptoms) and perhaps make a quick call.
If you might find this discourages you from using your Blink eye drops, you might prefer to keep them at the computer where you can reach for them every time your feel your symptoms returning.
You Can Feel Better
My computer eye strain problems combined with chronic dry eye made me feel terrible. Low-intensity headaches, neck pain from worrying about my eyes and even scaly eyelids from touching my eyes too much had begun to make getting work done impossible.
Combined with the right computer reading glasses, Blink Tears dramatically reduced the symptoms of my chronic dry eye. They can work for you too. Why not give them a try?
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