Failure to use eye drops correctly is putting hundreds of thousands of Britons at risk of blindness, experts have warned. The concern follows recent reports that only half of the 480,000 sufferers of glaucoma – the most common eye condition in the UK – are given clear instructions for using their medication.
It is essential to apply pressure to the inner corner of the eye, or the tear duct, when squirting in the liquid to stop the medication draining out, rendering it ineffective.
But experts say specialists are failing to relay this information, causing patients to lose their sight needlessly.
‘It is doctors’ responsibility to tell patients how to use the medication they prescribe, not just assume they know how to use it because most don’t,’ says Dr Louise Gow, an eye health specialist at the Royal National Institute for Blind People.