# Jeepers, Creepers—Stay Away from My Peepers! (Eyedrop help?) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 14, 2005, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeepers-creepers-stay-away-from-my-peepers-eyedrop-help/312523 "2005-07-14T16:18:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2005, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeepers-creepers-stay-away-from-my-peepers-eyedrop-help/312523/1 "2005-07-14T16:18:16Z")
I finally made an eye-doctor appointment, for Monday (thanks, **Oxy** , for the referral!). Nothing wrong that I know of, but I know my prescription has changed since I last had my eyes checked (back during the Roosevelt administration), and I really need to get tested for glaucoma. Trouble is, I am _phobic_ about anyone doing anything to my eyes—I can’t even look at other people putting eyedrops in their own eyes, or I get squicked-out. Dentists? Piece of cake. Needles? Bring 'em on. But if anyone approaches my eyes with drops, they slam shut like . . . well, like a slamming-shut thing. Anyone have any tips for getting drops in one’s eyes? I’ll warn the doctor I’m a blinker, but it would be nice if he doesn’t have to use a whole bottle to get one drop in my eyes. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2005, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeepers-creepers-stay-away-from-my-peepers-eyedrop-help/312523/2 "2005-07-14T16:21:46Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > Anyone have any tips for getting drops in one’s eyes? I’ll warn the doctor I’m a blinker, but it would be nice if he doesn’t have to use a whole bottle to get one drop in my eyes. The doctor I went to last week held my eyelids open while he put the drops in. It was the only way. I can’t even consider contacts; I’m that spastic about my eyes. ---
**Author:** ![nonacetone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonacetone/32/2819_2.png) [@nonacetone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nonacetone)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2005, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeepers-creepers-stay-away-from-my-peepers-eyedrop-help/312523/3 "2005-07-14T16:24:58Z")
I’m that way, too. The way I put in eyedrops, is to pull out my lower eyelid and put the drops in there. Works like a charm! ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2005, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeepers-creepers-stay-away-from-my-peepers-eyedrop-help/312523/4 "2005-07-14T16:51:07Z")
> [@This Year's Model](#): > > The doctor I went to last week held my eyelids open while he put the drops in. It was the only way. Thanks—I’ll suggest that. People have told me “look away,” but when there’s a _big, huge dropper_ filling up your whole field of vision . . . Glad I’m not the only eye coward. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2005, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeepers-creepers-stay-away-from-my-peepers-eyedrop-help/312523/5 "2005-07-14T16:51:48Z")
I close my eyes (but not tightly), put the drop in the corner next to my nose, and blink to distribute it. Not having my eyes open prevents me from flinching, as I would if I saw the drop coming toward my eye. My eye doctor didn’t seem to have a problem with doing it this way when I explained how skittish I am about anything coming near my eyes. ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2005, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeepers-creepers-stay-away-from-my-peepers-eyedrop-help/312523/6 "2005-07-14T16:53:07Z")
When I give drops to my kids, I have them close their eyes, then put the drops where the corner of the eye meets their nose. When they open the eye, the drop just rolls in. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2005, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeepers-creepers-stay-away-from-my-peepers-eyedrop-help/312523/7 "2005-07-14T17:34:59Z")
> [@cher3](#): > > When I give drops to my kids, I have them close their eyes, then put the drops where the corner of the eye meets their nose. When they open the eye, the drop just rolls in. Darn! I thought I had invented that technique. I, too, am freaked by objects getting too close to my pretty eyes. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2005, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeepers-creepers-stay-away-from-my-peepers-eyedrop-help/312523/8 "2005-07-14T17:56:54Z")
You did invent it. Me, I learned it from our pediatrician. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2005, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeepers-creepers-stay-away-from-my-peepers-eyedrop-help/312523/9 "2005-07-14T18:13:42Z")
One more vote for hating things being near my eyes. I’m a life-long glasses wearer, and I won’t hear any of this nonsense about “Oh, you’ll get used to contacts.” Forget it! Since when is it a good idea to force ourselves to overcome our natural (and useful!) instinct to avoid getting stuff in our eye?! Anyway, re the OP…my wife has gotten pretty good at getting me to look the other way while she sticks drops in the corner of my eye. It’s still a little bit of a challenge for her, but I sure as heck can’t do it myself. I _will_ go through a whole bottle, and I’ll probably still miss. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2005, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeepers-creepers-stay-away-from-my-peepers-eyedrop-help/312523/10 "2005-07-14T19:10:56Z")
The only upside to this is, I know I will need now reading glasses as well as distance glasses, which means _I can finally get lorgnettes!_ ---
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2005, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeepers-creepers-stay-away-from-my-peepers-eyedrop-help/312523/11 "2005-07-14T19:19:42Z")
> [@cher3](#): > > When I give drops to my kids, I have them close their eyes, then put the drops where the corner of the eye meets their nose. When they open the eye, the drop just rolls in. This is how the optomotrist gets the drops in DeHusband’s eyes! ---
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2005, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeepers-creepers-stay-away-from-my-peepers-eyedrop-help/312523/12 "2005-07-14T19:22:29Z")
Just ignore my spelling - I’m on the phone. ---
**Author:** ![Batsinma\_Belfry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@Batsinma\_Belfry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batsinma_Belfry)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2005, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeepers-creepers-stay-away-from-my-peepers-eyedrop-help/312523/13 "2005-07-14T19:22:46Z")
> [@Anne Neville](#): > > I close my eyes (but not tightly), put the drop in the corner next to my nose, and blink to distribute it. Not having my eyes open prevents me from flinching, as I would if I saw the drop coming toward my eye. My eye doctor didn’t seem to have a problem with doing it this way when I explained how skittish I am about anything coming near my eyes. Yep, that’s my technique also. It’s a good idea to make sure there’s no makeup on the side of your nose though. When my son needs eyedrops, he has to lay flat on his back with his head braced between two pillows. Then my husband holds him down, while I put the drops in. I picture us having to do that when he’s 30. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2005, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeepers-creepers-stay-away-from-my-peepers-eyedrop-help/312523/14 "2005-07-14T20:11:59Z")
> [@hillbilly queen](#): > > Yep, that’s my technique also. It’s a good idea to make sure there’s no makeup on the side of your nose though. Good point. Didn’t even think of that, since the last time I wore makeup other than at my wedding was for my senior class picture in 1992. > [@](#): > > I picture us having to do that when he’s 30. I’m 30, and showing no signs whatsoever of growing out of my fear of getting things in my eyes. But I got pinkeye in college once, and rather than go home and have my mom put the eyedrops in (and miss a week or so of class, and have to deal with my mother hovering over me and annoying me when I’m sick), I managed to do it myself. I did use a lot more of the drops than a normal person would have, but I did do it. You can sometimes amaze yourself with the things you can do when you have to. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2005, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeepers-creepers-stay-away-from-my-peepers-eyedrop-help/312523/15 "2005-07-14T20:31:38Z")
Man, all you ocularphobes are weird. Im pretty much the exact oppoiste…well, not opposite, as that would be an eye touching _fetish_, but I could care less if something toucehs my eye. In fact, i just touched my eye with my finger jsut now. The actual surface, too, not going through the eyelid. Did you know you realyl can’t feel things on your eye? At least I can’t. Put the finger there, pushed harder than one should on their own eye, and didn’t feel a thing. Odd. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2005, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeepers-creepers-stay-away-from-my-peepers-eyedrop-help/312523/16 "2005-07-14T20:40:10Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > i just touched my eye with my finger jsut now. The actual surface, too, not going through the eyelid. Did you know you realyl can’t feel things on your eye? At least I can’t. Put the finger there, pushed harder than one should on their own eye, and didn’t feel a thing. Odd. - faints dead away \* ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2005, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeepers-creepers-stay-away-from-my-peepers-eyedrop-help/312523/17 "2005-07-14T20:51:42Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > Man, all you ocularphobes are weird. Im pretty much the exact oppoiste…well, not opposite, as that would be an eye touching _fetish_, but I could care less if something toucehs my eye. In fact, i just touched my eye with my finger jsut now. The actual surface, too, not going through the eyelid. Did you know you realyl can’t feel things on your eye? At least I can’t. Put the finger there, pushed harder than one should on their own eye, and didn’t feel a thing. Odd. This kind of perversion should not be tolerated in these fora. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2005, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeepers-creepers-stay-away-from-my-peepers-eyedrop-help/312523/18 "2005-07-14T20:55:15Z")
> [@DeVena](#): > > This is how the optomotrist gets the drops in DeHusband’s eyes! It’s especially effective if the person is lying with their head in your lap, but you may not want to go there with your optometrist. ---
**Author:** ![Batsinma\_Belfry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@Batsinma\_Belfry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batsinma_Belfry)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2005, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeepers-creepers-stay-away-from-my-peepers-eyedrop-help/312523/19 "2005-07-14T20:57:32Z")
BTW, the same kid who has to be held down for eyedrops, loves to freak me out by turning his eyelids inside out. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2005, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeepers-creepers-stay-away-from-my-peepers-eyedrop-help/312523/20 "2005-07-14T21:01:23Z")
> [@hillbilly queen](#): > > BTW, the same kid who has to be held down for eyedrops, loves to freak me out by turning his eyelids inside out. Oooh! I totally used to do that in elementary school! I can hardly wait for my 10-year old nephew to pick that one up… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeepers-creepers-stay-away-from-my-peepers-eyedrop-help/312523.md?page=2)