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Why Should You Skip Visine for Rosacea?

Visine eye drops are great for getting the red out when you have allergies or a cold. Don't waste your money, however, using Visine for Rosacea. It's not going to help.

Understanding Ocular Rosacea

Ocular rosacea is a form of rosacea that affects the eyes. While your eyes may produce plenty of tears, the oil glands in the eyelids may become clogged or not produce enough oil to mix with the tears to properly lubricate the eye's surface. As a result, your eyes may burn, feel very scratchy, be sensitive to light, or appear red and swollen. People with ocular rosacea also tend to get sties (painful pimples along the eyelash line).

As the main issues with ocular rosacea are the lack of oil produced in the gland, Visine's redness relief will only help with redness. It does nothing to treat the main cause of the symptoms. Don't bother with Visine for rosacea, there are better solutions.

Start Internally and Move to External Treatments

Most ophthalmologists recommend taking fish oil and flaxseed oil capsules each day. My own ophthalmologist at UVM Medical Center has me taking 1,200 mg of fish oil and 1,000 mg of flaxseed oil.

I wash my eyelids carefully twice a day using Aveeno's baby soap and then pat dry. It's not advisable to rub. Once a day, I use a warm lavender compress to help keep oil glands from clogging.

A few times a day, he has me applying drops specifically made for dry eyes. These drops definitely soothe my scratchy eyes. Since I've been using them, I find that even if I forget my fish oil and flaxseed oil capsules, which happens more often than I'd like, the drops are enough to keep the scratchiness from returning.

My Input on Eye Drops for Ocular Rosacea

My ophthalmologist handed me his recommended list of the best eye drops for rosacea.

Personally, I've tried many of them and on really bad days, I definitely prefer Genteal Gel, though it does make your vision blurry for a while, so you don't want to use it when you're going to be driving. My go-to eye drop for ocular rosacea is Systane Ultra. It simply feels the best and doesn't leave the filmy oil over my eyes that the gels do. Plus, Systane Ultra comes in a multi-pack in the store where I work, which saves me a lot of money in the long run. I don't know about you, but saving money is important in my household.