Are ointments useful for dry eye patients? (Posted: apr 2003)

We don’t think these are great day or night. Frankly, no matter what some doctors say we are altogether against use of this stuff other than as an emergency measure to prevent abrasions at night. It basically amounts to putting vaseline in your eye. Petroleum products are good for a lot of things, but in eyes? Truth be told, the big-time eye surface wetting theorists, the PhDs of tears, all have endless very persuasive arguments why putting greasy stuff in your eye, though it may keep off tonight’s abrasion, will actually be bad for your eye longer-term because it will make it that much harder for your eyes to stay wet. While we don’t have the background or the patience to wend our way through the scientific arguments the fact is we have seen this in practice with a great many LVC patients, which makes us much more inclined to think it’s true. — Personally, I was never all that crazy about having to wipe grease out of my eyes in the morning so I was secretly relieved to find that it was thought to be a bad idea anyway. If you find yourself using ointment every night, have a look at our pages on dry eye treatments and in particular look into better protection for your eyes at night.

What ointments are available in the UK? (posted: apr 2003)