10-year-old boy is nearly blind! Doctors remind: Don’t use eye drops randomly, especially these types…

Staring at mobile phones or computers for a long time, dry and swollen eyes are common. Many people choose to use eye drops to relieve eye fatigue.

Recently, a 10-year-old boy suffered from allergic conjunctivitis. His parents went to the pharmacy to buy eye drops (tobramycin dexamethasone eye drops) on their own. However, they did not follow the pharmacist's instructions and used the eye drops for half a year.

He experienced symptoms such as eye swelling, headache, vomiting, and increasingly blurred vision. The doctor diagnosed him with late-stage glaucoma in both eyes, optic nerve atrophy, cataracts in both eyes, and near blindness.

News screenshots

Why does long-term use of eye drops cause glaucoma? How to use eye drops correctly? There are many eye drops on the market. How to choose the right eye drops? Let's take a look.

Why does using eye drops cause glaucoma?

Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that threaten the optic nerve and visual pathway, are mainly related to pathological increase in intraocular pressure, and eventually lead to visual impairment. Glaucoma is the second leading cause of vision loss in the world, second only to cataracts.

When the eyes show symptoms such as congestion, dryness, photophobia, etc., using hormonal eye drops such as dexamethasone at will, although the eye discomfort symptoms can be quickly relieved, vision loss may occur soon after. This is hormonal glaucoma caused by hormonal eye drops.

The name of hormone eye drops often contains the word "pine", such as dexamethasone, flumethasone, etc. This type of drug has strong anti-inflammatory and anti-allergic effects and is suitable for the treatment of various eye inflammations, such as allergic conjunctivitis.

However, if used for a long time, it will lead to angle dysfunction, hinder the outflow of aqueous humor, thereby increasing intraocular pressure and compressing the optic nerve. If not treated in time, it will also lead to visual field defects, optic nerve atrophy, etc., seriously endangering vision.

What should I pay attention to when using eye drops?

No matter which type of eye drops you use, you must obtain a doctor's consent before using them. You also need to check whether the eye drops are within their validity period, whether there are any changes in color, whether there is turbidity or precipitation, etc. Only after confirmation can you use them.

Although eye drops can relieve some discomfort symptoms of the eyes, they also have contraindications and side effects. For example, hormone eye drops are contraindicated for fungal infections of the eyes, and beta-adrenergic receptor blocker eye drops are contraindicated for patients with a history of bronchial asthma.

At the same time, you should also pay attention to whether you are allergic to the ingredients in the eye drops. Therefore, when seeing a doctor, you need to tell the doctor in detail your medical history and history of drug allergies, etc.

In addition, most eye drops contain preservatives, and long-term and repeated use can easily cause dry eyes, so most eye drops are not recommended for long-term use.

However, some glaucoma patients need to use eye drops for a long time to control intraocular pressure, but they must control the dosage under the guidance of a doctor and check intraocular pressure regularly. If the effect is not good, they need to adjust the medication in time according to the doctor's advice.

How to determine if you have glaucoma?

The onset of glaucoma is mainly related to pathological increase in intraocular pressure.

Intraocular pressure is the pressure exerted by the contents of the eyeball on the wall of the eyeball. The normal intraocular pressure is 10-21 mmHg. If you experience severe eye pain, halo vision (a rainbow-like halo appears around you when you look at a bright light source such as a light bulb), rapid vision loss, and headaches, nausea and vomiting, you must go to a regular hospital for treatment immediately.

The intraocular pressure is below 21 mmHg, but the eyes still hurt and feel uncomfortable:

In most cases, it is caused by dry eye syndrome, insufficient tear secretion, and discomfort such as dry eyes. It is generally stinging, which is different from the swelling pain caused by high intraocular pressure.

The intraocular pressure measurement is slightly higher than 21 mmHg:

When the intraocular pressure value exceeds 21mmHg for multiple times, further visual field examination and optic nerve examination are needed. If the results of both examinations are normal and the corneal thickness is also thick, it may be ocular hypertension (although the intraocular pressure value is high, no eye disease has appeared and no treatment is needed for the time being).

In addition, if the intraocular pressure is high, you should also avoid looking at your phone or computer in a dark environment to prevent the dilated pupil from causing the angle to close and induce glaucoma.

The intraocular pressure value is higher than 21mmHg or even higher than 30mmHg, or the intraocular pressure fluctuation is greater than 8mmHg in 24 hours:

Especially if there is a history of glaucoma in the immediate family, a comprehensive examination is needed, including visual field examination, corneal thickness examination, optical coherence tomography (OCT), and even MRI of the head.

Only through the above examination results can a comprehensive diagnosis of whether glaucoma exists can be made.

How to choose eye drops correctly?

There are many types of eye drops on the market. How do you choose a suitable one?

Common types of eye drops include:

Eye drops to relieve visual fatigue

Common ingredients include sodium hyaluronate and various vitamins, which can reduce visual fatigue and relieve dry eyes.

However, using eye drops is not the first choice for relieving visual fatigue. You can first apply a hot compress with a towel. Generally, the symptoms of dry and itchy eyes will be significantly relieved. If there is no effect, consider using eye drops.

At the same time, be careful not to stare at mobile phones, computers, etc. for a long time. Relaxing your eyes properly is the main way to improve visual fatigue.

Antibacterial eye drops

Most of the names contain the words "mycin" or "floxacin", such as "tobramycin eye drops" and "levofloxacin eye drops". They have antibacterial effects and are suitable for various eye inflammations such as keratitis and conjunctivitis, as well as aseptic chemotherapy during perioperative ophthalmological surgery.

If there is no abnormality in the eyes, it is not recommended to use this type of eye drops for long-term prevention, as it may cause drug resistance in the eyes or even dysbacteriosis.

Antiviral eye drops

Most of the names contain the word "Wei", such as "acyclovir eye drops", "ribavirin eye drops", etc., and are suitable for diseases such as viral keratitis and viral conjunctivitis.

Antiviral eye drops are also not suitable for long-term use and require timely reduction and adjustment of medication under the guidance of a doctor.

Hormone eye drops

Most of the names contain the words "松" or "龙", such as "dexamethasone eye drops" and "fluorometholone eye drops". They are suitable for severe inflammatory reactions in the external eye and postoperative anti-infection.

Hormonal eye drops should not be used at will, as they can easily cause diseases such as hormonal glaucoma.

therefore

When the eyes appear

Eye pain, itchy eyes, dry eyes, decreased vision, etc.

When you feel uncomfortable

Seek medical attention promptly

Do not buy eye drops on your own

When using eye drops

Be sure to follow your doctor's orders

Be responsible for your own health