Guide · prescription dry eye drops
Ikervis and other prescription drops for dry eye in the UK
Ikervis is a prescription anti-inflammatory drop for severe dry eye that has not settled with lubricants. It works slowly, over months, and it is one part of the answer rather than all of it.
What Ikervis is
Ikervis contains ciclosporin, a medicine that calms inflammation on the surface of the eye. In the UK it is a prescription drop for severe dry eye with damage to the surface of the eye (keratitis) that has not improved with lubricating drops. It is usually started by an eye specialist. You may have heard of Restasis or Xiidra: those are American drops that work in a similar way, and are rarely used in the UK.
What to expect
It is a slow drop. Most people need to use it for several weeks to a few months before they notice the difference. Stinging when you first put it in is common and usually settles. It treats inflammation; it does not unblock oil glands or make more oil.
EvoTears is not a prescription drop
EvoTears is a water-free drop that spreads across the eye and slows evaporation. It contains the same ingredient as Miebo in America. You can buy it without a prescription, and it can help evaporative dry eye between treatments. Like every drop, it masks the symptoms rather than fixing the glands.
Where prescription drops fit
Prescription anti-inflammatory drops are for the minority of people whose eye surface stays inflamed. For most dry eye, the inflammation starts at the lid edges and the blocked glands, and treating those directly (with IPL, which calms the inflammation as well as clearing the glands) is often what lets the surface settle. Every dry eye treatment, compared.
How we help
At the Dry Eye Assessment (£145) we look at the surface of your eye with special dyes and check your lids and glands. If you need a prescription drop, we refer you to your GP, or give you a letter with our findings to take to them. If your glands are the cause, we show you, and tell you what would treat it.
The short version
- Ikervis (ciclosporin) calms inflammation of the eye surface
- It is for severe dry eye that has not settled, usually started by a specialist
- It takes weeks to months to work
- EvoTears is not prescription, and helps evaporation between treatments
- Most dry eye starts in the glands, which drops don’t fix