saline rinsing question

[tttt]

i'm working with a teen with dry eye. this site is extremely helpful. forgive my ignorance...when someone says they rinse with saline (such as after using GenTeal gel at night), what exactly does that mean? i have a big bottle of saline...just a few drops in each eye, use it on tissue to wipe the eye, pour it in, use an eye cup...what?

I want him to try the gel at night, but i want to be prepared for gook and blurriness in the a.m. if he experiences that.
Thanks for your help!

[calli66]

I don't know if there's a "right" way---I use Unisol saline solution--it's unpreserved. Don't use the preserved kind--it's more irritating.

My method is to first rinse my face and eyes and pat dry with a tissue around the eye--this removes the external gel. Then I tip my head up, pull down slightly on the lower lid and squeeze a stream of saline into my eye for several seconds. Then I blink and wipe anything that's been washed out. After doing this for both eyes, I go about my morning routine. If I notice still more gel, I go back and repeat the process until I get it all rinsed out.

This is what my eye doctor does for me at the end of an office visit, if he has put various drops in my eyes (like the stain they use, or the dilating drops).

Hope this helps.

Calli

[Rebecca Petris]

when someone says they rinse with saline... what exactly does that mean? i have a big bottle of saline...just a few drops in each eye, use it on tissue to wipe the eye, pour it in, use an eye cup...what?

I think the term means different things to different people (as with with compresses & lidscrubs). Personally when I talk about a saline rinse, I'm basically squirting a stream of Unisol directly at my eyes and holding a towel to my face to catch excess.

I don't have experience cleaning residue IN the eye because I don't use viscous products - I'm sure others will chime in. For residue on lashes/lashline, a foam lidscrub in the shower is easy and gentle.

(whoops, posted at the same time as Calli. hers is much more to the point! )

[kitty]

I just buy a small size of saline for sensitive eyes, in the contact lens solution area. I just squirt it directly in from the bottle. I take care not to touch the tip of the bottle to anything.

[Judy]

I do the same as Rebecca does. If I'm in the shower and done with everything else, I take the Unisol 4 and squirt it first on my eyes closed, then kind of open them a bit and squirt some more. It is very cool temperature wise and feels absolutely wonderful...