Eyeworld

89 EW GLAUCOMA March 2018 close your eyes for a few minutes," Dr. Budenz said. "That's because the blinking action pumps drops down into the nasal lacrimal system rather than letting them sit on the eye." The other way to prevent that is by putting one's index finger in the medial canthal region and gently squeezing to keep it from flowing down into the nasal lacri- mal duct. "These are things that I think very few ophthalmologists are recommending when they prescribe drops," Dr. Budenz said. Another tip that Dr. Budenz gives his patients is to wait 5 min- utes between administering two different drops. "If you put one drop on top of the other, the second one rinses the first one out and dilutes it," he said. Dr. Budenz was not surprised by how many patients ended up con- taminating their eye drop bottles. "Some older folks can't seem to get the drop in their eye by hovering the bottle directly over the eye, and they actually stick it in the corner of their eye and squeeze. The issue is once you touch the bottle to your eye, eyelid, or eyelashes, the bacteria starts multiplying." This is especially noteworthy as patients keep their bottles for at least 1 month. Educational enhancement To enhance patients' ability to instill drops, Dr. Budenz advised practitioners to give them a pam- phlet directing them to a website that teaches them how to use drops correctly. It would also be helpful to run a drop instillation video in the waiting room for patients. Pointing patients to an online video may be useful as well. Overall, Dr. Budenz hopes that practitioners come away from the study with the realization that pa- tients need more instruction when it comes to drop instillation. "We are not doing a good job on educating patients on the physical steps of taking their drops," he said, adding that practitioners need to develop strategies to help patients master the steps and improve compliance. EW Reference 1. Davis SA, et al. Drop instillation and glauco- ma. Curr Opin Ophthalmol. 2018;29:171–177. Editors' note: Dr. Budenz has no finan- cial interests related to his comments. Contact information Budenz: 919-966-5296 A safe and effective solution for intraoperative small pupil expansion • Gentle on iris and other intraocular tissue • Iris quickly returns to natural shape post surgery • Easy insertion and removal — Eric Donnenfeld, MD Ophthalmic Consultants of Long Island, NY "I particularly like the I-Ring because I fi nd it does not distort the pupil or tear the sphincter." I-Ring ® Pupil Expander Call your local sales rep or customer service at 1-866-906-8080 Visit iring.net for clinical information For information on all Beaver-Visitec products, visit beaver-visitec.com

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