I have Sjogren’s disease so dry eyes go with the territory. I work with the practice pharmacist as well as my ophthalmologist, so I have worked out a routine.
Sometimes my eyes are so sore that I can’t get them open when I wake up. I manually pull them apart then bathe them in cooled boiled water and this gives relief, holding a microfibre cloth over them. I used to use blephasol, but it can nip the optician said to use moisturiser afterwards as it is very drying. I use Ceravé eye cream.
Then I massage the meibomium glands to bring the oil up. This helps to reduce the frequency of blepharitis.
Next, drops - hyaluronic and preservative-free high strength - arthritis makes some bottles really difficult to use. Seemingly there are bottle holders/dispensers available. I pull the lower lid down to catch the drops, then roll my eyes to distribute them. Keep them in the bathroom cupboard and handbag. No special storage needed.
If they are really sore at bedtime I have a heated eye mask (usb) which means I can choose the temperature and time. It comes with a little spray bottle that you can put water (again, cooled boiled water) in and spray the inside of the mask. Excellent.
I also have a range of other products like gels, ointments to use.
I also wear daily contacts which are very effective at protecting the surface of the eye from scraping by the eyelid - a bandage in other words. I recently got a nasty virus and as well as a cough and sinusitis it gave me conjunctivitis - incredibly painful and slow to heal - it’s been 3 months.
This routine really helps my eyes. Everything is prescribed by my GP thankfully. Hope it’s of use to someone.