Punctal Occlusion: Why Pressing on the Inner Corner of Your Eye After Drops Matters

After using any medicated eye drops, whether it’s an antibiotic, steroid, antihistamine, or myopia management medication such as atropine, please make sure that you close your eyes tightly or hold a tissue on the inner corners of your eyes afterwards. This improves the efficacy of the medication and reduces the chance of systemic side effects from drainage down through your nose and throat.

What are the puncta?

The puncta are the 4 small holes, one in each top eyelid and one in each bottom eyelid, that naturally drain our tears to ensure we always have a fresh flow of tears to our eyes, and that old tears carry away any debris or allergens. By temporarily blocking them after putting in eye drops, we ensure that our eyes are actually absorbing the medicated drops, instead of them draining away before our eyes get a chance to use the prescribed medication.

This is called punctal occlusion, and it takes only a few seconds, just close your eyes and gently press a fingertip on the inner corner of each eye for 1–2 minutes after instilling your drops.

Punctal plugs for dry eye

Punctal occlusion is also used therapeutically for patients with dry eye, where tiny punctal plugs can be inserted to retain tears in the eyes by preventing them from draining as per normal.

The general consensus in the dry eye sphere is that punctal plugs more often cause irritation, because fresh tears are no longer flushing out irritants from the surface of the eyes. However, there is a small population of dry eye patients where these plugs offer significant relief.

If you are wondering whether punctal plugs might help your dry eye, book an appointment for a comprehensive dry eye assessment. It’s often helpful to do a trial first with a temporary type of punctal plug before committing to a longer-term solution.