Why do eye drops hurt the throat?

Nowadays, it is difficult for people to get rid of electronic screens in work or life, and the eyes will feel tired after watching for a long time. At this time, many people like to drop a few drops of eye drops to relieve it, but you find that the throat is often sore when the eye drops are not used.

It turns out that there is a small hole in the inner corner of our eye, the punctum. There is a passage from here to the nasal cavity, which is the nasolacrimal duct. The nasolacrimal duct is the passage that connects the eyes and the nasal cavity and is part of the tear duct. Entering the nasal cavity, you will see the lower nasal passage, the nasopharynx, and the throat. The nasal cavity and the oral cavity, and the nasal cavity and the throat are all connected.

When the eye drops are dropped into the eyes, it will flow down the lacrimal duct through the small hole in the corner of the eye all the way to the throat. It is normal for you to feel a sore throat, which means that your nasolacrimal duct is unobstructed, so don’t worry too much about it.

But then again, if you master the correct posture of eyedrops, you will not experience bitterness easily.

Many people have made these mistakes when using eye drops:

1. Put eye drops on the eyeballs

This is what many eye drops commercials on TV do. of.

In fact, this is wrong. This is equivalent to putting eye drops on the cornea, which will stimulate the cornea and cause certain drug damage to the cornea.

In addition, when the liquid medicine stimulates the cornea, the eyes will blink involuntarily, causing the liquid medicine to flow out and reduce the effect.

The correct way: drop it on the lower eyelid and flow into the conjunctival sac

2. Put the bottle cap down

When using eye drops, many people do not pay attention to it. The unscrewed bottle cap is placed down, so that the edge of the bottle cap is easily contaminated with bacteria on the desktop.

If these bacteria get into the eye drop bottle, it may contaminate the eye drop and cause eye infection. The correct way is to put the cap up or lay down.

3. Put the eye drops in the close-fitting pocket

It is easy to use when placed close to the body, but it is easy to reduce the efficacy of the eye drops.

The eye drops need to be stored in a cool place. If you carry it close to your body, the temperature of the human body will heat up the eye drops, which will reduce the efficacy of the medicine. If you need to carry eye drops when you go out, you can put it in a backpack or other places where it is not easy to warm up.

4. Sharing eye drops with other people

This is prone to cross infection.

5. Instill several drops of eye drops each time

A drop of eye drops is about 30 microliters, and the capacity that can be stored in the conjunctival sac of the eye is only 5-9 microliters, so it is said that drop A single drop fills the conjunctival sac and makes extensive contact with the entire corneal tissue of the eye.

A few drops at a time is just a waste. And too much eye drops will flow along the nasolacrimal duct to the throat, making the throat feel sore.

So what is the correct posture for eye drops?

Take the left eye as an example:

(1) Press the left middle finger on the part between the bridge of the nose and the inner corner of the eye, which can prevent the eye drops from flowing into the nasolacrimal duct, and at the same time Gently open the lower eyelid with the index finger;

(2) Holding the eye drops in the right hand, instill 1 drop of the medicine vertically on the lower eyelid about 1~2cm away from the eye socket. Be careful not to let the mouth of the bottle touch the eyelids and eyelashes to prevent contamination of the eye drops;

(3) Release the lower eyelid, gently close the eyes and rest for 2 minutes. The medicine flows out. Do not blink at this time. Every time you blink your eyelids, about 2 microliters of eye drops will be drained through the nasolacrimal duct. Closing your eyes can increase the contact time between the eye drops and the eyeball, and promote the efficacy of the drug;

(4) When using some highly irritating eye drops, the fingers should continue to press the nasolacrimal duct at the inner corner of the eye for at least 1 minute to prevent the liquid from flowing into the nasal cavity and throat through the nasolacrimal duct, causing discomfort the taste of.

Last but not least, eye drops generally contain preservatives, which may cause damage to the eyes if used too frequently.