About Refresh Celluvisc

Refresh Celluvisc as a lubricant eye drop

Celluvisc is used by a lot of people as a thick dry eye drop (best suited to overnight use as it will blur your vision). As such, it's fine - preferences for these things vary, and this is as good as or better than other gel drops. However, for those who need better overnight protection, you may want to consider an actual gel (and I do mean gel, as opposed to ointment, if possible).

Refresh Celluvisc as a supplemental filler for scleral lenses

FIRST, please read this obligatory mini-lecture on "Off-Label" use of products: Manufacturers sell pharmaceutical products for specific uses and by law their label information specifies those uses only. People use products sometimes for additional purposes, and doctors also often recommend products for purposes beyond the scope of their labeled purposes. Manufacturers, however, cannot advertise their products for these "off-label" purposes, for obvious reasons!

I sometimes exercise my free speech rights in this shop to identify and explain common off-label uses if I think they are important uses for patients to be aware of because they could be helpful to them. Nevertheless I'm depending on you, the intelligent, rational reader, to understand what "off-label" is and discuss any ophthalmic pharmaceutical product use with your doctor. Incidentally, there's a whole 'nuther backstory to why no dry eye drops say, on the label, that they're okay to use with contacts, relating to the fact that lubricants are regulated as drugs, while contact lens wetting drops are technically considered medical devices. But I've bored you enough - back to our regularly scheduled programming now!

WHAT and WHY: For a great many years now, Refresh Celluvisc has been popular amongst PROSE and scleral lens users as a supplement to the preservative free saline they fill their devices/lenses with. I remember this personally from more than 10 years ago when some PROSE users who had chronic problems with mucous buildup inside their lenses were starting to use it. Today, one of the most frequent questions I see coming up in the Facebook groups is troubleshooting lens fogging, and many others are responding that they address this with Celluvisc.

PLEASE NOTE that both mucous and fogging can be due to a number of causes, from lens fit to your cleaning and disinfection regimen, or they may be specific to eye diseases you have. So it is very, very important that you fully brief your doctor on any such things going on so they can help you resolve it. Here, I'm just pointing out what so many people already know, that Celluvisc for some users seems to successfully address these issues.

HOW TO USE IT: I suspect it's different for every user. Some people put a drop of Celluvisc in the bowl of their lens and top it up with saline, some do the opposite. Some use nothing but Celluvisc. Some do half and half. Consult your doctor first and foremost, and if they OK it, experiment.

HOW IT WORKS: I have no idea. Obviously it raises the pH and increases the viscosity, but I can't explain the actual mechanics. It's simply one of those things that just works.

Description (from the manufacturer's literature)

Drug Facts (from manufacturer's site):

Uses

Warnings

Directions

To open, TWIST AND PULL TAB TO REMOVE. Instill 1 or 2 drops in the affected eye(s) as needed and discard container.

Other information

• Use only if single-use container is intact.
• Use before expiration date marked on container.
• Store at 59°-86°F (15°-30°C).
• RETAIN THIS CARTON FOR FUTURE REFERENCE.

Inactive Ingredients

Questions?