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Pfizer has a formidable brand in Visine. It's been around for 40 years and it's pretty much the only eyedrop ever marketed directly to consumers on such a large scale. It is natural that they are aggressively marketing their tear products now that the dry eye market is 'heating up'. They are distributing a lot of samples to doctors and so I think a lot of patients are now first getting some form of Visine for dry eye from their doctor.
There is a good deal of confusion however about what Visine 'is'. I often see people here warning Visine users against Visine products, without knowing which one they're using, in case it is one that might be harmful to people with chronic dry eye. So, I think it's about time we had a thread dedicated to this subject where we can get it all out on the table and refer back to it as needed.
I'll start it off with a basic rundown of the product line. Feel free to supplement, correct, clarify, etc.
There are 9 products in the Visine family, each targeting one or more of the following uses:
- Temporary relief of redness
- Relief of allergy symptoms
- Relief of dry eye symptoms
- Contact lens lubrication
Of those nine drops, six contain benzalkonium chloride (BAK) as preservative. IMHO, that means they should be avoided by people with chronic dry eye. It's one thing to take a prescription eyedrop with BAK if there is no acceptable alternative currently available, but there are always alternatives when it comes to over-the-counter drops. Some of the 6 are also objectionable for us on the basis of their active ingredients (redness relievers).
The six BAK-containing Visine products are:
The following three Visine products do not contain BAK:
There is a good deal of confusion however about what Visine 'is'. I often see people here warning Visine users against Visine products, without knowing which one they're using, in case it is one that might be harmful to people with chronic dry eye. So, I think it's about time we had a thread dedicated to this subject where we can get it all out on the table and refer back to it as needed.
I'll start it off with a basic rundown of the product line. Feel free to supplement, correct, clarify, etc.
There are 9 products in the Visine family, each targeting one or more of the following uses:
- Temporary relief of redness
- Relief of allergy symptoms
- Relief of dry eye symptoms
- Contact lens lubrication
Of those nine drops, six contain benzalkonium chloride (BAK) as preservative. IMHO, that means they should be avoided by people with chronic dry eye. It's one thing to take a prescription eyedrop with BAK if there is no acceptable alternative currently available, but there are always alternatives when it comes to over-the-counter drops. Some of the 6 are also objectionable for us on the basis of their active ingredients (redness relievers).
The six BAK-containing Visine products are:
- Visine A.C.
- Visine L.R.
- Visine Tears
- Visine Advanced Relief
- Visine Original
- Visine-A.
The following three Visine products do not contain BAK:
- Visine for Contacts
- Visine Pure Tears Portables
- Visine Pure Tears Single Drop Dispenser
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