How to Insert Eye Drops

1.  Tilt your head back

2.  Pull your lower lid away from the eye to form a “pocket” by pulling the lower lid down with index finger pinching the lid outward with thumb and index finger

3.  Let the drop fall into the pocket without touching the bottle to your eye or eyelid (to prevent contamination of the bottle).

4. Close your eyes (do not blink) and apply pressure to the point where the lids meet the nose. Hold for two to three minutes. Wipe unabsorbed drops and tears from the closed lids with a tissue.

*If you need to take more than one kind of eye medication at the same time, wait three to five minutes before using the second drops.

Courtesy of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.  Reprinted from Patient Education CD Personal Eyes and Ophthalmic Images, with permission of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, copyright 2003.  All rights reserved.  Users of this website may reproduce one (1) copy of this for their own personal, noncommercial use.  All Internet, web or electronic posting or transmission is not permitted.