What are artificial tears, and can I overuse them?

Dr. Myrowitz answers the question: 'What Are Artificial Tears?'

By
Elliot Myrowitz, M.D., Assistant Professor of Optometry, Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins Medical School
December 23, 2008, 5:52 PM ET
1 min read

Aug. 24, 2009— -- Question: What are artificial tears, and can I overuse them?

Answer: Artificial tears are drops that we put in our eyes to supplement our natural tears. They can help both the quantity and quality of our tears. And they can come in bottles or little ampoules. You can overuse them. The bottled products, which have preservatives, can be safely used up to 4-6 times a day.

If you need to use drops more than that, you're usually better off using the individual, preservative free artificial tears. They can safely be used up to, say, ten times a day.

You certainly could overuse those as well. We don't want to wash out our natural tears by putting them in every half hour. So your eye doctor can give you guidance on the frequency and tell you which brands and how often to put them in. Don't overuse them but certainly they're going to help a lot.