How to use eye drops: a practical guide

What should I check before I start?

Check the medicine name, the eye to be treated, the dose and the time on your label or treatment plan. Do not identify drops by cap colour alone. Check the expiry date and, for an opened bottle, its discard date. Shake the bottle only if its instructions say to.

After cataract surgery, use the schedule your surgeon supplied, including any planned reduction in frequency. Our cataract surgery recovery guide explains the wider recovery period. If you have had retinal surgery, follow your own postoperative plan; our vitrectomy recovery guide covers the other precautions you may need.

Contact-lens advice varies between products. Check whether to remove your lenses and how long to wait before replacing them. Do not assume that a preservative-free product can be used with every type of contact lens.

How do I put a drop into my eye?

1. Wash and dry your hands. Have a clean tissue ready. Remove the cap without touching the nozzle or the inside of the cap.
2. Get comfortable. Sit with your head tilted back, or lie down. Look upwards.
3. Make a small pocket. Gently pull your lower eyelid down. Avoid pressing on the eyeball, particularly after surgery.
4. Aim above the pocket. Hold the bottle in your other hand. Keep its tip away from your lashes, eyelid, eye and fingers.
5. Release one drop, unless your prescription says otherwise. If it clearly lands on your cheek, try again. Do not keep adding drops once one has entered the eye.
6. Close your eye gently. Do not squeeze or repeatedly blink. Gently press the inner corner beside your nose, without pressing on the eyeball, for about two minutes unless your product or clinician gives different instructions. This reduces drainage towards the nose.
7. Finish cleanly. Blot excess liquid from your cheek, replace the cap and wash your hands. Repeat in the other eye only if instructed.

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Some preservative-free bottles have a pump rather than a squeeze mechanism and need priming before their first use. Ask the pharmacist to demonstrate your actual bottle.

What if aiming or squeezing is difficult?

Try resting your elbow on a table or using the wrist–knuckle method: the hand pulling down your lid forms a loose fist, and the wrist of the hand holding the bottle rests on its knuckles. This can make aiming steadier.

Bottle holders and squeezing aids can help with weak hands, arthritis or tremor. They are not all interchangeable: take your bottle to a pharmacist or eye clinic to check the fit and practise. A trusted helper can put in the drops using the same hygiene steps. Do not transfer drops to a different bottle or modify the nozzle.

A large-print chart or phone reminder can help when several bottles have different schedules. Write the medicine name, which eye and the time; tick the dose after using it. Ask for a practical demonstration if you are unsure whether drops are reaching your eye.

How long should I wait between different drops?

Usually leave at least five minutes between different eye drops in the same eye. Otherwise, the next drop may wash out some of the first. Follow a longer interval if your own instructions require one.

For example, the Australian HYLO-FRESH instructions say to use it at least 30 minutes after other eye drops. This is a product-specific exception, not a rule for all lubricants. Use eye drops before eye ointment; ointment generally goes last, with the interval specified in your instructions.

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If you miss a dose, check the leaflet or ask your pharmacist: the advice depends on the medicine and how close you are to the next dose. Do not double a dose to catch up. Do not stop, extend or restart prescription drops just because a bottle remains partly full.

How do I keep my drops clean?

Use your drops only for yourself. Keep the nozzle clear of fingers and surfaces, replace the cap promptly and store the bottle as directed, out of children's reach. Never rinse or wipe the tip with tap water, and do not dilute the contents.

If the nozzle touches your eye or another surface, ask your pharmacist whether the bottle should be replaced. Do not use a bottle with damaged packaging, a broken seal before first use, or an unexpected change in appearance. Some drops are naturally cloudy suspensions; compare them with their own instructions rather than assuming every drop should be clear.

Single-dose containers are not necessarily reusable just because liquid remains. Follow their instructions and discard them after use when directed.

How should I store drops and when do I discard them?

Read the instructions for the exact brand and presentation you have. “Keep in the fridge” and “throw away after 28 days” are not universal rules. A bottle, a pump and a single-dose vial can have different requirements, even within a familiar product range.

Check three things: the storage temperature before and after opening, the time allowed after opening, and the printed expiry date. Write the opening and discard dates on the pack. Use the earlier of the printed expiry date and the calculated discard date. If an outer foil pouch has its own limit after opening, record that too.

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These examples show why the instructions matter; they are not recommendations to choose a particular medicine. Australian instructions checked on 24 September 2026:

The Zaditen multidose bottle has a different rule: discard it four weeks after opening. Compounded or specially prepared drops may have shorter limits and particular refrigeration requirements; follow the dispensing pharmacy's label.

Keep drops away from hot cars, sunny windowsills and steamy bathrooms. Do not freeze drops unless their specific dispensing instructions require frozen storage. If a bottle has been kept outside its required temperature range, tell the pharmacist the product, temperature and approximate time. Do not assume putting it back in the fridge makes it suitable again.

How can I travel with eye drops?

Plan supplies before leaving, including a modest allowance for delays where permitted. Check your repeats, expiry dates and how many opened bottles you will need. Carry labelled medicine in its original packaging, with a prescription copy or doctor's letter for overseas travel. Check the rules for your destination and transit countries, and your airline's liquid and cooling-equipment requirements.

Keep drops you need during the journey accessible in your hand luggage. Avoid leaving them in a parked car. If the label requires 2–8°C, arrange a travel container that maintains that range and check how you will store the drops at your destination. Prevent direct contact with frozen ice packs. A cooling wallet that merely keeps a bottle below room temperature is not automatically a refrigerator.

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Ask your pharmacist how to handle dose times across time zones rather than bunching doses together. An Australian prescription may not be accepted overseas, and a similar brand name can refer to a different formulation. Check before relying on an overseas refill.

Where can I obtain drops and repeat prescriptions?

Community pharmacies supply prescription and non-prescription eye drops. A pharmacist can help check the formulation, bottle mechanism, storage and use with your other medicines. Prescription-only drops need a valid prescription.

A repeat is another supply already authorised on your prescription. It is different from a new prescription. Check how many repeats remain and whether the prescription is still valid before you run low. When repeats have run out, contact your prescribing clinician; your GP may be able to provide a new prescription where clinically appropriate. Do not assume the pharmacy can automatically renew it.

With an electronic prescription, the pharmacy normally sends a new token for the next repeat after dispensing. For a lost original token, contact the prescriber; for a lost repeat token, contact the issuing pharmacy. You can also ask your pharmacy about an Active Script List.

Allow time for a product to be ordered. If stock is unavailable or you are about to run out, contact the pharmacist and prescriber promptly to agree on a plan. For delivery, check that any required cold chain will be maintained and that someone can receive the parcel.

When should I seek urgent help?

Contact your surgeon or an urgent eye service promptly for new or worsening eye pain, a sudden reduction in vision, or increasing redness, particularly after surgery. Do not wait for your routine appointment or simply add extra drops.

For difficulty breathing or swelling of the lips, tongue or throat after using a medicine, call 000. If eye drops are swallowed, call the Poisons Information Centre on 13 11 26 for advice; call 000 if the person collapses or has breathing difficulties.