Lacrifresh Ocu-Dry
Avizor’s Lacrifresh Ocu-Dry eye drops are made of 0.30% hyaluronate, are hypotonic and have a low osmotic concentration.
Available in 0.4ml vials, the preservative free eye drops provide relief of moderate to severe dry eye symptoms by correcting the imbalance of tears that have high evaporation and less replacement.
The tears latch onto the water in the eye drops, enabling the eyes to become balanced once more.
Suitable for all contact lens wearers, the eye drops can be bought over the counter in independent and national optician practices.
‘Gentle on the eyes’
Optician asked a male aged 40 to test this product for a week. His gritty and itchy dry eyes are worse during the summer months, and often require him to take regular screen breaks and wash his eyes with tap water.
He found that the Lacrifresh eye drops solution was quite gentle on his eyes and he felt comfortable for three hours after applying. Although his symptoms were temporarily relieved, they did return every morning.
Despite preferring mist spray products to pipettes, he would potentially purchase the product because it did ease his symptoms and the small containers are convenient for flights or travel.
Hycosan Dual
Hycosan Dual eye drops by Scope Ophthalmics are preservative and phosphate free, containing 0.05% sodium hyaluronate and 2% ectoin.
The drops help to treat lipid deficiency and to stabilise the tear film to reduce excessive evaporation and relieve eyes from itching and other allergies.
Each bottle contains 225 drops and is sterile for six months after opening. They are compatible with contact lenses and available in optician practices and pharmacies.
‘Easy to use and provided a few hours relief
Optician asked a 26-year-old female who experienced dry eye symptoms from wearing contact lenses all day to test these eye drops for a week. She found the product easy to use and had a few hours of relief from her dry eye symptoms.
Despite her contact lenses feeling more comfortable after using the drops, her eyes grew dry again and the symptoms persisted unless she used the eye drops.
She said that she might consider buying the product, as it made her eyes feel more comfortable in the short term when looking at a screen for a long time and when she was out in the evening after wearing contact lenses all day.
She confirmed that it was a better product than others she had purchased over the counter in pharmacies.
Vismed
TRB Chemedica’s Vismed gel is made with sodium hyaluronate. This behaves like natural tears and helps the eye to counteract symptoms of dry eyes. It is available in concentrations of 0.18% and 0.3% hyaluronate and comes in 20 single dose units or a multi dose bottle.
It is suitable for contact lens wearers and for heavy computer screen users, and can be bought over the counter at pharmacies, online and opticians practices.
‘Gel formulation was refreshing’
Optician asked a 42-year-old female who had very watery eyes first thing in the morning to test this product for a week. During the day at work, she said it felt like she always had sand in her eyes, which were very dry when blinking.
She thought the gel formulation of the product was refreshing, but a bit sticky, as it took a few minutes after applying to see properly again.
She had an instant relief and noticed her eyes were watering considerably less than before, although still felt her eyes became dry in the day.
She commented that this was the first product she’d used that made a difference to her watery eyes in the morning and would purchase it due to the gel coming in vials to avoid waste.
Visuxl
Visufarma’s product to combat dry eyes is VisuXL in eye drops form. VisuXL provides aid to both dry eye treatment and post-surgical corneal healing, as it contains cross linked hyaluronic acid and Coenzyme Q10, both of which have been proven to be more effective than just a hyaluronic product.
It is useful for patients with dry eyes and can be purchased over the counter in hospital pharmacies and online.
‘Reapplied the drops throughout the day’
Optician asked a woman who declared her dry eye symptoms as mild to test this product. She said that her symptoms included stinging and slightly scratchy eyes with some redness.
She found that VisuXL gave her some relief quite quickly. In the current weather conditions, a fan has been blowing onto her face, which has exacerbated her symptoms.
However, the drops delivered enough lubrication to mitigate the effect of the fan and eased the stinging sensation, although she said she would have to reapply the drops throughout the day as the pain would most likely return.
She said she’d be happy to purchase the product herself but didn’t think it had a greater efficacy than other ones she had tried in the past.
Wet Therapy
Advanced Eyecare Research offers a biocompatible and long-lasting tear supplement called Wet Therapy, which contains two hygroscopic polymers and anti-inflammatory properties that help to protect irritated corneas and rehydrate contact lens surfaces.
Wet Therapy has been specifically tested for use with all types of contact lenses and suitable for daily contact lens wearers. The product is available to buy over the counter at independent opticians.
'Had a good amount of eye drops’
Optician asked a 25-year-old male with quite severe dry eye symptoms to test this product.
He had red eyes, eyelids that stuck together when he woke up and temporarily blurred vision, which improved when he blinked.
He found that the product worked quite well, however, the symptoms did not completely go as they continued to occur from time to time.
He said that he was likely to purchase the product as it had a good amount of eye drops and seemed to work quite quickly to ease his often severe dry eye symptoms.