For the last 3-4 years I have been using Vasoconstricters such as Visine, Clear Eyes, Opcon-A etc. At the time I did not know the harmful effects that these products had and pretty much used them whenever I wanted to. I am now seriously suffering the consequences of not using these drugs with caution. I beleived I developed a case of Rebound Hyperemia and Dry eyes at the same time. The use of these products have left my eyes very very bloodshot and very dry every single day. The only way I can get my eyes to look even remotely normal is if I use these drops. About 2 weeks ago I quit the vaso's cold turkey. After a week they started to look slightly better. The red veins were still in my eyes and still noticable, but they did not look as inflamed as they had before. To subsitute for the vaso's I started using drops like Systane, Optive. Soothe XP and Thera Tears to ease the dryness in my eyes. These drops had very minimal effects and had my dropping them into my eyes 8+ times a day. For the past 3-4 days my eyes have been more red than usual. They are suddenly worse than they were after the first week of quiting the vaso's. I beleive this could be from the preservatives in the systane. Things that irritate and make my eyes eve more red and dry are - wind/air from fans - bright lighting - air conditioners - computer use (even after only 10-15 minutes) - short amount of sleep (under 8 hours) My eyes are red and dry when I wake up, but dim down as the day progresses. I cant go on living like this. I feel like a freak when people see me and I have these nasty, bloodshot eyes. I went to an eye doctor about a year ago for this same problem and he seemed to think it was allergies so he prescribed me patanol, which did nothing really. Do I need RX-Steroid drops to get through this Rebound Hyperemia. Its been two weeks with no vaso's and my eyes are still extremely inflamed/red/dry and irritated.

There's an eye drop that an actual eye doctor perscribes to her patients for chronic dry eye but I can't remember the name of it.

are you talking about Restasis? I heard this is used to treat chronic dry eye. I believe I suffer from both rebound hyperemia and a slight case of dry eyes. my main concern is the rebound redness. is this treatable?

Bryan9182 please let me know if you find a solution. I'm suffering from the same symptoms

To answer your question, it is important to confirm that the real problem is overuse of the OTC drops. Although it is true that chronic overuse of any OTC drop can cause redness, this begs the question: "Why would someone overuse these drops?" Most likely, there was a reason to use them in the first place and the OTC drops were not completely effective leading to the overuse. Most OTC drops to relieve redness treat only the symptom (red eyes) without getting to the problem (dry eye, allergy, ocular inflammation, infection, etc.). As long as the underlying cause of the redness is not addressed, the symptom will return when the OTC drops are discontinued. With chronic use of an OTC drop you can even develop a rebound redness from discontinuing the drop (a type of withdrawl, if you will). Bottom line: a chronic red eye is a condition that should be evaluated by an eye doctor (ophthalmologist or optometrist) as there are certain ocular conditions that cause chronic red eye that could (over time) result in a loss of vision. Anytime a part of your body is bothering you and it does not resolve over a short period of time or with OTC therapy I would recommend you listen to what your body is telling you and get it evaluated. If you are interested in learning more about causes of red eye visit my website: http://sgveye.com/

Restasis could be the best thing for you, but you may want to ask the doctor if prescribing you a steroid like Lotamax for the first few weeks to help with the intial redness (however you can't use a steroid for long time periods, whereas Restasis can be used long term). Redness is often due to Dry Eye and/or Allergy (itchy eyes), but usually the Allergy goes away when the Dryness is treated and the tear film is improved. Restasis will improve your tear film as it will help you make more of your own tears (natural is always best). You should go to an eye doctor that has experience with treating dry eyes and Restasis. Many patients find doctors on the Restasis website, or from asking friends that have found doctors that have treated their dry eyes.

First, quit using it. Consider getting tear duct restriction plugs which reduce drainage of tears, effectively making what you produce go further.