Helping your eyedrops reach your eye

Assisting your patient with their eye drops

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Step 1
Double check that you are about to place the correct drop in the correct eye.
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Step 2
Wash your hands.
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Step 3
Position your patient in a comfortable position. They can be sitting, lying or standing. Lying flat on the back looking up to the ceiling is often the easiest technique, but not always the most convenient. Sitting with the head tilted back, neck extended and eyes looking up to the ceiling is good, and with practice drops are easy even with the patient standing and with only their eyes turned upwards.
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Step 4
Shake the bottle, and test how much squeeze gives a single drop.
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Step 5
For all positions, sitting lying or standing the principle is the same. Gently pull the lower eyelid downwards away from the eye. This creates a trough between the eye and the lower eyelid. The tip of the dropper is positioned so that a drop can be dropped into this space without the tip of the dropper touching the eye or eyelids. With the patient lying flat the dropper can be some distance away from the eye, in the sitting position the tip is closer, and standing the tip is closer still.
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Step 6
Put the lid back on the bottle and dab any overflow with a clean tissue.