“If you’re using Lumify four times a day, you’re putting a lot of preservative in your eye,” she says.ĭr. She also notes that the drops contain a preservative called benzalkonium chloride, which can cause a reaction in the eye. Barber says she has questions about Lumify’s long-term effects, since the studies used by the FDA to approve the drops lasted only five weeks. By targeting the veins, Lumify doesn’t interrupt oxygen flow to the eye, reducing the risk of a rebound effect, according to Bausch & Lomb, who makes the drops.ĭr. The arteries carry oxygen-rich blood to the eye, while the veins take blood away from the eye. The key difference in the way the two drugs work is that Visine targets a receptor in the eye’s arteries, while Lumify acts on a receptor in the veins. This can lead to a cycle where people depend on the drops to have clear, white eyes. The enlarged arteries pump more blood to make up for lost time, which can cause increased redness in the eyes-called the rebound effect. As vessels open again, they can become even larger than before, as nutrients and oxygen return to the eye.
Once a person stops using drops containing tetrahydrozoline, the blood vessels are no longer constricted. Both drugs work to reduce eye redness by causing constriction of the blood vessels in the eye, decreasing both blood flow and oxygen getting to the eye’s tissue.
Visine’s active ingredient is tetrahydrozoline. The active ingredient in Lumify is brimonidine, which was first approved by the FDA in a higher dose as a prescription glaucoma drug called Alphagan.
However, anyone who thinks they need drops that often should first have their eyes checked by an ophthalmologist to find out what’s causing the redness, says Laurie Barber, MD, a spokesperson for the American Academy of Ophthalmology. Ads for Lumify state the drops can be used four times a day. Food and Drug Administration in December 2017, and started appearing on store shelves in mid-2018. New over-the-counter eye whitening drops may have some advantages over older drops, such as Visine, but ophthalmologists caution that any whitening drops can mask symptoms of serious disease.
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