Brand name medicines appear in green; generic medicines appear in red.

Ear drops in eyes: A painful mistake

• Keep in box. Keep your eye drops and ear drops in their original cartons, as pictures of an eye or ear are often on the boxes but not on the bottles.
• Separate drops. Do not store your eye drops and ear drops in the same location. Also keep pet medicines away from human medicines.
• Different times. Use your ear drops at a different time than eye drops.
• Use saline drops. To reduce the risk of harmful mix-ups, try using water and saline ear drops to remove earwax instead of stronger substances that contain carbamide peroxide.
• Discard leftover drops. Once you have used prescription ear (and eye) drops for as long as the doctor told you, discard leftover drops. Write the date you open any non-prescription drops on the label and throw the bottle away 4 weeks later, as it may contain bacteria by then.
• Confirm medicine. Take a “time out” before using eye drops to confirm that the correct bottle is in your hand. Reading the label out loud helps prevent mistakes.
• Flush eyes. If ear drops are accidentally put in the eyes, flush the eyes with water and seek emergency treatment if improvement is not immediate.