Tag: Corneal damage

A single application of lidocaine eye drops, often administered as a gel under the brand name Akten, typically provides a numbing effect lasting between 5 and 30 minutes. This rapid, short-acting topical anesthetic is strictly for use under medical supervision during specific ophthalmologic procedures and is never meant for long-term pain management due to the serious risks involved.

Millions of people use eye drops for relief from dryness or redness, but reaching for the bottle too often can have serious consequences. Understanding **how much is overuse of eye drops** is crucial for maintaining your eye health, as this practice can lead to a cycle of dependency and even exacerbate the very symptoms you are trying to treat.

According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the unsupervised use of topical anesthetic eye drops is strongly discouraged by corneal specialists due to the high likelihood of patient abuse and corneal toxicity. Understanding what are the side effects of local anesthetic eye drops is crucial for safe use, as these powerful, prescription-only medications are not intended for at-home pain management.

Despite its fast-acting numbing properties for eye procedures, continuous and prolonged use of proparacaine can result in severely toxic reactions to the ocular surface, potentially causing irreversible vision loss. This critical fact defines how toxic is proparacaine, emphasizing its danger outside of controlled clinical environments.