Applying eye drops with shaky hands

Why do shaky hands make applying eye drops difficult?

A small movement of your hand may hardly be noticeable during normal everyday activities.

With eye drops, it is different.

After all, the tip of the bottle sits just above a relatively small target area. A movement of a few millimetres can determine where the drop ends up.

At the same time, you have to:

• hold the bottle;
• find the right position;
• keep the eye open;
• look upwards;
• and squeeze the bottle.

That takes fine motor skills and coordination.

A moving bottle makes aiming difficult

So the problem with shaky hands is not only that the hand moves.

You have to keep correcting.

When the bottle moves to the left, you correct to the right. When it gets closer to the eye, you pull your hand back.

Meanwhile, you are trying to deliver exactly one drop.

As a result, the whole process can take longer and you may become unsure about the position of the bottle.

Shaky hands are recognised as a practical problem

Within Dutch healthcare, too, shaky hands are specifically mentioned as a reason why applying eye drops independently can be difficult.

Zilveren Kruis, for example, lists eye drop glasses as an aid for people who cannot apply drops independently due to, among other things, shaky hands or limited strength and grip.

Other Dutch healthcare organisations also mention limited motor skills, shaky hands and reduced strength as situations in which an aid can offer support.

Continuing to apply eye drops independently

When applying eye drops does not go well, help is sometimes asked of a partner, family member or care provider.

That may be necessary, but it also means the time at which you take your medication can become dependent on someone else.

That is why healthcare increasingly looks at whether an aid can help someone carry out a task independently after all.

This is especially relevant for eye medication that has to be used over a longer period or several times a day.

An aid can reduce movement

With shaky hands, full control over the hand is not always possible.

A logical solution is therefore not only to try to make the hand steadier, but to support positioning in a different way.

Eye drop glasses use the face as a fixed reference point.

The bottle is placed in the glasses, so it no longer has to be aligned above the eye entirely by hand.

How does Oculoo work with shaky hands?

The Oculoo eye drop glasses help position the eye drop bottle.

You place a suitable bottle in the intended position in the glasses and then put the glasses on.

This means your hand no longer has to determine on its own exactly where the bottle sits above the eye.

You can focus more on the actual administration.

That does not remove a tremor, but it does reduce the need to position the bottle above the eye entirely freehand.

Fewer things to do at once

And that is exactly what matters.

Many problems with eye drops arise because several actions have to be carried out at the same time.

Research into eye drop technique shows that problems with self-administration are common and that aiming and squeezing are major obstacles.

An aid can therefore be especially valuable when it makes one of those actions more predictable.

When should you ask for help?

Have you suddenly developed shaky hands, or are existing tremors increasing markedly? Discuss this with your GP.

Do you mainly have trouble administering your eye medication? Discuss this with your pharmacist, ophthalmologist or another care provider.

Together with you, they can look at which technique or aid best suits your situation and your prescribed medication.