For the past day, my eyelid has been twitching and I feel like my eye is going dry. What should I do?

Question

Alexandre Chagnon · Accepted Answer

Hello ma'am, The phenomenon of fluttering eyelids is usually self-resolving (i.e., it eventually goes away on its own). The causes can be multiple (e.g., fatigue, stress, high screen time, strenuous physical activity, high caffeine intake, etc) and are usually benign . However, as you seem to be presenting, it can cause some "fatigue" of the eye, including dry eye. So you can uselubricating/moisturizing drops until the problem passes. However, with the array of brands and products in pharmacies, it can be difficult to settle on a choice. Here are some tips and tricks for choosing your lubricating drops💧 : Try to prefer products that contain, in the ingredients list, carboxymethylcellulose (CMC ), hypomellose or hydroxypropylmethylcellulose (HPMC ) and/or hyaluronic acid --> these were the ingredients that provided the most comfort to patients in the studies; So, to save you from reading each of the ingredient lists of the different products, the Systane Ultra and Soothe products were also effective in the studies; Avoid products containing benzalkonium chloride --> this is the most eye-irritating and least well-tolerated preservative; Avoid products mentioning "red eye " or "fatigue " --> these often contain vasoconstrictor agents (ex: oxymetazoline, naphazoline, phenylephrine, etc.) which cause even more redness after 3-5 days of regular use (a phenomenon called "rebound conjunctivitis "). If, after 1-2 weeks, the flickering problem persists, I invite you to consult your family physician or optometrist to investigate the cause. Also, feel free to consult your neighborhood pharmacist if you have any questions about eye preparations or proper drop administration technique during your pharmacy visit. 😊 I hope this information helps you "see" more clearly 😉 You can contact us again with any other questions, no problem. Marc-Antoine Dufresne, pharmacy intern (Pharm.D), supervised by Alexandre Chagnon, pharmacist.