If you’ve been diagnosed with glaucoma, one of the most commonly prescribed treatments is eye drop medications. Eye drops are used to manage glaucoma by decreasing the intraocular pressure (IOP) in your eye. They typically either help the fluid in your eye to drain better and/or decrease the amount of fluid your eye is making. Prevent Blindness presents some useful tips on how to self-administer eye drop medications and minimize undesirable potential side effects.*

How to avoid unpleasant side effects from eye drops

When you administer eye drops in your eye, some of the liquid can go into your tear drainage system (nasolacrimal duct), which is located in the corner of your eye by your nose. From there, it moves to the sinuses and is absorbed into the blood. You can have some uncomfortable side effects when the drug reaches other parts of the body, like the heart, liver, or kidneys.

These side effects can include:

• asthma,
• low blood pressure,
• high blood pressure,
• changes in heart rhythm,
• depression, and/or
• nervousness.

In order to avoid these side effects, the nasolacrimal occlusion technique, or NLO technique, is recommended when self-administering eye drop medications.

What is the NLO technique?

The NLO technique:

• prevents your eye drop medication from getting into your drainage duct, 
• makes sure more medicine stays in your eye, and
• makes the medicine more effective.

How to apply the NLO technique

The following are Prevent Blindness’ step-by-step instructions:

1. Tilt your head back. 
2. Using your middle finger, gently press the corner of the eye by the side of the nose.  
3. Use your index finger to pull down the lower lid and then apply the eye drop medicine.
4. After applying the eye drop, let go of your lower lid. 
5. Close the eye and keep the middle finger in place for at least two minutes.
6. Wipe away any excess eye drops on your eyelids with a facial tissue.

If you need to administer more than one type of drop, you must wait at least 15 minutes before you do the next application.

Additional eye drops tips

In addition to the NLO technique, the following tips are important to follow when using eye drops.

• Before you administer eye drops, make sure to wash your hands carefully. 
• When handling eye drops, make sure that the dropper stays clean.
• When administering eye drops, don’t let the dropper touch, or make contact, with any part of your eye.
• If the bottle feels too small in your hand, you can wrap additional material, like a paper towel, around the bottle to make the bottle wider and give you a better grip. (There are also assistive devices available to help people put in eye drops.)
• Store eye drops somewhere safe to keep them out of reach of children and pets.

*Prevent Blindness. (2020, Apr. 21). Taking Eye Drop Medications. https://preventblindness.org/taking-eye-drop-medications/