How to Quit your Bad Romance with Visine.
Visine is an amazing eye drop because it takes the red of our your eyes and makes you look whiter, brighter, healthier and younger. Who doesn't want that?
You may have started out using Visine right before a job interview. Moved onto every morning. Now you're using it 6 times a day. You KNOW it's not good for you but you do it anyways because you're desperate for that whiter, brighter, healthier and younger.
Lemme tell you about Visine. It's the crack cocaine of eye drops. It's a vasoconstrictor, which means it squeezes the blood vessels of the eyes so tight, it squeezes all the blood out so your eyes appear white again. Think True Blood. This lasts for only about 90 minutes as your blood vessels will dilate back to normal size – often the blood vessels dilate even more than their normal size . . . so your eyes now appear even more red. Optometrists call this phenomenon "rebound redness." I also call it a bad romance. You need it again and again and again even though it's bad for you.
You're also dropping a bunch of really bad preservatives into your eyes every time you use Visine. The preservatives themselves can cause irritation and inflammation, hence the redness. The preservatives are toxic to bacteria. Image how toxic these preservatives are to your delicate tear film. Optometrists call this pathology "medicamentosa." Now you know.
Here's how to severe the ties and get back to truly whiter, brighter, healthier and younger eyes. Say you're dosing 6 times a day. Pretty common. Here's what you do:
YOUR 3 MONTH JOURNEY STARTS HERE
Day 1 to Day 14: Use Visine 5 times a day and substitute the 6th (last) drop of the day with 2 drops of preservative free artificial tears. You must get the preservative free kind, or you are just wasting your time. How do you know the artificial tears are preservative free? They will come in little vials. Each vial will hold about 9 drops. Just recap the top and use until the vial is empty. You can get preservative free artificial tears at most Walgreens, CVS, Rite-Aid locations.
You will also want to be extremely mindful of eyelid hygiene during your journey. So make sure you remove your eye makeup every night and use products that cleanse but don't irritate. *clears throat* Think: We Love Eyes eyelid and eyelash makeup remover oil.
Week 2 to Week 4: Use Visine 4 times a day and sub the 3rd and 6th drop of the day with 2 drops of preservative free artificial tears.
Week 4 to Week 6: Use Visine 3 times a day and sub the 2nd, 4th and 6th drop of the day with 2 drops of preservative free artificial tears.
Week 6 to Week 8: Use Visine 2 times a day and sub the 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 6th drop of the day with 2 drops of preservative free artificial tears.
Week 8 to Week 10: You're winning. Use Visine 1 time a day when you think you need it and sub out the other 5 drops of the day with 2 drops of preservative free artificial tears.
Week 10 to Week 12: You're a winner. Now you're gonna use Visine sparingly when needed and begin to taper the quantity of preservative free artificial tears. I recommend 2 drops four times a day for 2 weeks.
Beyond Week 12: You can use Visine rarely. Because, job interview. Taper down to 1 drop 4 times a day with your preservative free artificial tears with the goal of maintaining 2 times a day, everyday.
Pop the champagne. You did it!