Eye drops against red eye

Red eyes can have many different causes. In order to treat them, it is first necessary to determine why the eyes are reddened. Depending on the cause, appropriate eye drops can then be applied or another treatment initiated.

This is decided by the doctor. If conjunctivitis is present, the eyes are also reddened. The conjunctivitis can have different causes.

Either it is due to external stimuli such as draughts, smoke, dust or foreign bodies and can be treated with artificial tears or Euphrasia eye drops, or it is due to bacterial or viral pathogens. A viral conjunctivitis usually does not require any special treatment. It can be treated symptomatically with artificial tears or Euphrasia eye drops.

In the case of bacterial conjunctivitis, an antibiotic is often necessary. This can be used in the form of antibiotic eye drops and leads to a reduction of symptoms and prevents the bacteria from spreading further. In addition, inflammation of the cornea or eyelid can lead to reddened eyes. Inflammation of the sclera or iris can also cause this. A doctor should therefore be consulted in any case before using any kind of eye drops for reddened eyes, as a serious illness may be behind it.

Eye drops against dry eyes

Dry eyes are caused by too little tear fluid in the eye. Then the tear film over the eyeball is not sufficient to supply the eye with liquid and a burning sensation in the eyes and a constant foreign body feeling in the eye develops. This can be caused by too little tear production by the tear gland.

Tear substitutes can be used as eye drops for dry eyes. They cause more fluid to be in the eye and replenish the tear fluid. Tear substitutes mainly contain water, but also synthetic substances such as polyacrylate, povidone or polyvinyl alcohol.

Hyaluronic acid as a fluid reservoir can also be included. Tear substitutes are available in pharmacies. When buying it you should make sure that no preservatives are included.

The permanent effect of preservatives on the eye can damage the tear fluid as well as the mucous membranes and the cornea. As tear substitutes for dry eyes are used regularly in most cases, there is a high risk of damage. Caution is also required when wearing contact lenses. Some products are not compatible with contact lenses, and this should be considered when choosing a suitable tear substitute.

Eye drops for allergies

In the case of allergies to pollen or animal hair, the eyes are often also affected. These are then reddened, swollen and burn or itch. This can be effectively treated with eye drops.

If the allergy is not very pronounced, one can try to relieve the symptoms, i.e. itching or burning eyes, with Euphrasia eye drops or artificial tears. However, this is often not enough. Anti-allergic eye drops are available in pharmacies.

Care should be taken that eye drops are used without preservatives, as these are gentle on the mucous membranes even with long-term use. An allergic reaction is triggered in the body by the release of histamine due to an overreaction to certain external stimuli (e.g. pollen, animal hair). Histamine then leads to the typical symptoms.

There are anti-allergic eye drops with different active ingredients. They are based on the inhibition of histamine release. Many preparations contain cromoglicic acid.

These eye drops should be taken as a preventive measure if no allergic symptoms have yet occurred. Furthermore, there are eye drops with the active substances azelastine or tetryzolin. These have a much faster effect and thus also alleviate acutely occurring complaints.

It should be noted, however, that these preparations should only be used for about 5 to 7 days at a time, otherwise the conjunctiva may be damaged. Cetirizine and loratadine are also suitable as anti-allergic eye drops. They are helpful for any kind of allergy and have a very good effectiveness. However, they can cause fatigue in this case. In the case of long-term and highly pronounced allergies, the doctor should consider hyposensitization in order to permanently relieve the symptoms.