Eye Spa & Refresh Tears Review – Dry Eyes in India

If you want to say bye-bye to dry eyes, you need to say hello to either Eye Spa or Refresh Tears. In my personal life, I have suffered from dry eyes for the last fifteen years or so. Add to that a combination of high myopia and severe astigmatism, and you’ll be able to guess what a bad combination me and contact lenses are.

What causes dry eyes?

I’ve been to many opthamologists over the years who have told me that my dry eyes are due to environmental conditions with a bit of genetic predisposition.

Environmental conditions:

1. Dry and dusty weather
2. Air-conditioned environment
3. Concentrating too long on the computer monitor or a book
4. Not blinking enough because you are straining your eyes on a screen

Genetic and other reasons for dry eyes:

1. Age
2. Laser surgery
3. Other medical conditions
4. Some people ko hota hai. (Docs words, not mine).

Dry Eyes Symptoms

Tired eyes after a long days of work: This happens to me every couple of weeks. Either i have to give my eyes a complete rest — no computer, no TV, no books — or things just don’t get better.

Discomfort when wearing contact lenses: This is the biggest problem I face with dry eyes. When I used to wear semi-soft contact lenses, the lenses would literally pop out of my eyes when i was walking down the streets. (Quite a funny scene, me and my teenage friends frozen on the sidewalk of Janpath, searching for a transparent piece of glass half the size of my finger!) Even though I have shifted to soft contact lenses, I still find it troublesome to work on the computer for long stretches of time with my contacts on.

So what do you do if you have dry eyes?

1. Stop wearing contact lenses — Docs advise yet again. Vanity and doctors don’t go well together.
2. Try eye-drop solutions like Refresh Tears (recommended by my doctor) and Eye Spa (recommended by me)

Refresh Tears Review

All doctors always recommend Refresh Tears probably because its a product manafactured by Allergan. It comes in a little blue bottle for Rs 180 or so for 10 ml. It’s got a thin, watery consistency, the same consistency as your tears.

The one major drawback of Refresh Tears is that you have to throw it away 1 month after opening the bottle. I have sooo many half-finished bottles of Refresh Tears in different bags and backpacks. 

Refresh Tears Liquigel Review

There’s another variation of Refresh Tears called Refresh Tears Liquigel. It comes in a similar bottle but is priced slightly higher at Rs 233. The major difference between the two products is that Liquigel is more of a lubricant. It has a different consistency than your tears, slightly more slippery and gel-like. I prefer it for my eyes.

Eye Spa Review

Eye Spa is manafactured by Life Zen and is priced at Rs 95 for 10 ml. It is much cheaper than Refresh Tears and has a consistency closer to the Liquigel. Gel-like, slippery, more of a lubricant than artificial tears. It is my go-to choice of late, not because it is cheaper, but it soothes my eyes in a better manner.

Having said that, I feel that my eyes get accustomed to both after a while and hence it loses its efficacy.

How to apply the eye drops?

Tilt your head back, hold your lower eye-lid open with a finger and put 1-2 drops in each eyes. Avoid blinking too hard. The eye spa pamphlet recommends pressing the area near your tear ducts.

The pamphlet included in the Eye Spa box gives detailed instructions on how to apply the eye drops.

Where to buy?

Both Refresh Tears and Eye Spa is available at your local chemist. They are not available online on Amazon or Flipkart. Refresh Tears is available online on netmeds.com, but I’ve never used the site so can’t comment on it.