Optase Dry Eye Intense Drops, Single Dose - Preservative Free Drops for Long Lasting Relief - Artificial Tears to Relieve Severe Dry Eye Symptoms - 30 Single Dose Vials

I had cataract surgery several weeks ago and now can see with no contacts or glasses only problem has been excessive dryness and in evenings especially having the feeling that i need to take my contacts out for relief, which i dont have in, from the scratchy feelings. I tried this and it’s the best eye drop i have tried since the surgeries. I have tried several others but i was needing to put them in all day to get comfort. These drops made a world of difference. Highly recommend. So far ive not had any problem with mold growth but i do shake them off and if i suspect any liquid present on the top or sides before i put the top back on the bottle i take a new tissue and dab lightly just in case. I would rather take the chance to have a micro amount of tissue debree as opposed to mold growth ruining my expensive eye drops.

This item is a high quality easy to use eyedrops for soothing impact for dry eyes! This brand is very gentle and effective. I’ll carry one with me at all times!

Although, the drops work well for dry eyes for most people, many people complain about the bottle. They complain they need to squeeze so hard to get the first drop out, they frequently get, instead, multiple drops or a stream of drops.Why is this bottle designed this way, you might wonder. The simple answer is that in order to keep drops sterile in a multiuse bottle, the bottle had to be designed to let drops out when you squeeze, but not allow contaminants to be sucked into the bottle when you release. These contaminants could be in the air around you or on the tip of the bottle had it unintentionally touched anything. So the bottle was given a flatter dispensing end to keep the tip out of your eye. It has a blue exit point instead. (More on that latter). Inside there is a one way valve, that stays closed until you use the drops. (See picture) . When you squeeze the bottle, an extremely small flow of liquid opens the valve to allow the drop to exit, but this requires more time to deliver the drop, than a conventional bottle not having the resistance of such a valve. If you impatiently squeeze too hard, two things happen. 1. Multiple drops may be dispensed. 2. Air that is packaged in the bottle above the liquid may be forced out of the bottle along with the drops. (If the bottle his held vertically while instilling the drops, the latter is less likely to happen.) Since the valve works in only one direction, as the bottle empties and no air gets back in, a vacuum is created causing the bottle to collapse, making it more difficult to squeeze out every bit of its contents. Optase says they overfill the bottle beyond the claimed 0.33 ml, to give you a usable 0.33 ml, even though some remains in the totally collapsed bottle.Given the necessity for this design, in order to keep preservative free drops sterile, is there any easier way to dispense drops?Here is my procedure:1. After removing the cap, be careful to keep the blue tip from touching your face or eye.2.Imagine the blue tip to be a "bulls eye" upon which you will focus while squeezing the bottle.3. Sit in an easy chair or sofa and steady your head backwards against the back, so that you are looking at the ceiling.4. Hold the bottle vertically over your eye so that you can focus on the blue tip. Position the bottle so the "blue bulls eye" is in the center of your view close to your eye.5. Squeeze the bottle with steady pressure until a drop begins to form on the blue tip. As it begins to form, the blue target becomes somewhat blurred, but continue squeezing until the drop actually drops into your eye. (Be patient while squeezing. It may take up to 15 seconds for the first drop to actually drop.) Squeezing harder will not speed this up and may result in wasted extra drops. After the first drop, the next drop will take less time.4. After administering the drops, be sure to shake off, in a horizontal direction, any extra liquid that may remain on the blue tip. If you fail to do this before recapping the bottle, that extra drop my cause mold to form inside the cap.5. Tighten the cap completely after use.All of this seems like a pain, especially if you are accustomed to drop bottles that contain preservatives and don't need bottle of this design. (BTW, Optase is not the only maker of preservative free drops, who use this bottle. Both BioTrue and Systane make preservative free versions in the same bottle.) Unfortunately Optase doesn't give you a choice of daily vials that Systane and BioTrue also offer. If you don't want the hassle, check out BioTrue drops in single use vials. They have nearly the same ingredients as Optase and probably work nearly as well. The downside of single use vials is they are more expensive than a multiuse bottle. Perhaps, because Optase is already so expensive in a preservative-free multiuse bottle, they don't offer single use vials. It could be most people couldn't afford them.

Just had LASIK surgery, and since I’ll be using a lot of eye drops over the next few months, decided to buy one of each of the recommended drops on my aftercare list. They only recommended preservative free drops, and the photo show the four brands I’ve been using.Slime factor:Optase - the slimiest (thickest)Systane Complete PF - also pretty slimeyRefresh Relieva PF - not very slimey at allThera tears - least slimey (feels like regular water)The Optase is expensive, but it works well. It does leave my cheeks with a slime residue, so I splash or wipe my face off a few times a day. That’s not necessary, but I prefer to. It doesn’t crud or anything. I think “300 doses” is a touch optimistic. I did the math and for me, it came out to closer to 200 or so.I gravitate to the Systane the most often, all said and done. It does crud my eyelashes a bit after several uses in a row, but it keeps my eyes lubricated a good long time. I found it similar to Optase with a little less slime factor. I sometimes splash off my eyes when using this one too.I like Refresh for different reasons, it feels light and clean due it’s more watery consistency. But it doesn’t keep my eyes lubricated as long, so I keep this at the ready when I do use it. I have to reapply more often.Lastly, Theratears. It doesn’t really market as PF, but in small print, the box does say it’s “preservative free in the eye.” Not sure what that means, but it was on my recommended list so I bought it. This is most like a “regular” eye drop. Feels very light and watery, and comes in a regular dropper bottle without the vacuum PF nub. Works well and I got a bigger bottle at a good price point.All in all, I like all of them for different reasons and like to vary it up day to day depending on what I’m doing. If I’m out and about with less time to reapply,I go for the Optase or Systane. When I’m lounging at home with more leeway to reapply, I go with Refresh and Theratears because it feels less gunky. Hope this helps.

Why did you pick this product vs others?:I have extreme dry eyes! I've tried several brands and Optase is the one that works for me! I use Optase twice a day along with a prescribed eye Drop twice a day. After several years of "tryouts" I found what works for me! I can actually feel moisture in my eyes again!

Excellent for dry eye and driving and riding in the summer months.

These are my favorite eye drops. They don't sting my eyes. They help your eyes stay moist. They help with dry eye.