Why I Would NEVER Recommend Visine to My Patients

Tell me if this sounds familiar: your eyes feel scratchy or look a bit red, so you head over to your local pharmacy to see if there is anything that can help. You stand, overwhelmed, in front of the large, ominous Wall of Eye Drops. Sweat drips down your neck as you scan the labels and try to find the one that may help with your exact symptoms. All the drops kind of look the same, so you reach for the one that’s on sale, with a name that you recognize. Surely the drops couldn’t be THAT different from one another… Right?

Wrong!

Not all “over-the-counter” eye drops are created equally, and the ones I caution patients about the most are drops that can “get the red out,” such as Clear Eyes and Visine. 

These drops typically work by shrinking the blood vessels of the eye, making your eyes look white. The issue is they don't necessarily treat why the eye was red in the first place. I always describe it as being like putting makeup over a pimple. You are hiding the pimple, but you aren’t actually making the pimple any better!

So, let’s say you have an eye infection. Your eyes could look like they are getting better when you use these drops because they’ll look less red. But this infection would still be there, potentially causing serious damage to your eyes. And because your eyes look like they’re getting better, you may put off getting actual appropriate eye treatment from an optometrist.

Another issue with some of the more popular eye whitening drops like Visine and Clear Eyes are the side effects. If you’re using these drops and then try to stop, you can get a “rebound redness” effect which means your eyes get red all over again (potentially even redder than they were initially). This can sometimes keep people using these drops for months or even years, because every time they try to stop, their eyes get red again. These patients often must wean themselves off of the red-eye drops slowly to try and minimize this rebound redness effect. 

Other side effects include pupil dilation, which can potentially induce a rare type of glaucoma called narrow angle glaucoma. There can also be side effects that occur throughout the rest of the body such an irregular heartbeat and dizziness. 

So…What Should You Do Instead?

It’s important to figure out what specifically is causing the eyes to be red in the first place before selecting an eye drop. Dryness, allergies, inflammation, and infections can all have very different treatments. The first step for eye redness should always be to see your optometrist! That way you can get a proper diagnosis and eye drop so that you are treating the eyes the right way. 

But…Why See The Optometrist?

It’s important if you have any kind of pink or red eye to have it examined by an optometrist. They are equipped with specialized equipment which allows them to have a detailed look at your eyes, provide an accurate diagnosis and prescribe the correct medicines to treat your eyes properly. Although other professions may be able to prescribe eye medicines, they often lack the specialized equipment needed to actually look in the eyes and thus make an accurate diagnosis. Optometrists also have four years of extensive training on how to diagnose and treat red eye conditions.  Most optometrists hold daily appointment slots open for emergencies so give your optometrist a call the next time you have a red eye!