Best eye drops ever! I've tried them all (Systane Ultra, Refresh Tears, Clear Eyes, TheraTears, Visine, gel, silver, castor oil, homeopathic, you name it lol) but these get my swelling down and keep my eyes well lubricated. Great for people who drive (truckers, delivery, ridesharing, uber, lyft) or otherwise strain their eyes a lot. I've been using them for over a year now and they have worked wonders for me! I swear by them! They do sting for about 15 seconds when you first start using them, but after a while, they don't sting anymore. I keep these handy in my car and at home.
You can buy the Optimel Manuka Honey Eye Drops 10mL on Amazon or DIY them at home with the following recipe:
INGREDIENTS
3mL disposable plastic syringe (get the straight tip ones, don't get the Luer lock ones with the screw threading)
15mL clear eyes / equate eye dropper (you'll only be using the bottle, not the solution)
gloves
distilled water
You can also get the eyewash, clear eyes, gloves and distilled water at Walmart or your local store.
RECIPE
-put your gloves on
-remove the tip off the clear eyes / equate dropper. This part might be a little difficult but you can do it! I usually press the tip to one side which lifts it on the other, then I press it the opposite way and keep wiggling it until it comes out.
-empty the contents of the dropper and rinse it several times with distilled water.
-remove the labels on the dropper.
-slowly suction 2.5mL of manuka honey with the syringe and dispense into dropper bottle
-fill up dropper bottle with the eye wash solution and leave a small air gap at the top
-replace tip back onto dropper
-shake until all the honey dissolves
REFERENCES
-Albietz, J.M. and Lenton, L.M. (2006) Effect of antibacterial honey on the ocular flora in tear deficiency and meibomian gland disease. Cornea. 25. (9): 1012-1019
-Al-Waili NS. Investigating the antimicrobial activity of natural honey and its effects on the pathogenic bacterial infections of surgical wounds and conjunctiva; J Medicinal Food 2004; 7(2): 210-222
-Mansour AM. Epithelial corneal oedema treated with honey. Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology 2002; 30: 149-150 (full, buy)
-Cernak M, Majtanova N, Cernak A, and Majtan J. (2011) Honey Prophylaxis Reduces the Risk of Endophthalmitis During Perioperative Period of Eye Surgery. Phytother. Res. 26: 613–616.
-Matthew Johnston,1 Michael McBride,1 Divakar Dahiya,1 Richard Owusu-Apenten,2 and Poonam Singh Nigam1. Antibacterial activity of Manuka honey and its components: An overview. AIMS Microbiol. 2018; 4(4): 655–664.
-More articles on Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=manuka+honey+eye
FAQs
How often can I use these?
Use them as often as you'd like! When driving I use them about every 1 or 2 hours, about 4 to 6 drops at a time. Have some tissue handy. These don't have the harsh vasoconstrictors often found in typical redness reliever eye drops that actually worsen your eyes with prolonged use.
Can I use regular honey? Why Manuka honey?
This is what the Optimel folks have to say about Manuka "Biomedical research has shown some of the properties of honey produced from the Leptospermum sp [Manuka] shrub are more stable than in other honeys. It is also the most cited honey in clinical research." More info also on the "Antibacterial activity of Manuka honey and its components: An overview." article.
Feel free to comment below with any other questions you may have!
Godspeed O:)