Recently there has been a shortage in supply of eye ointments and gels. These are particularly useful to apply at night as they last longer in the eye than drops.
Being a pharmacist and optician owned company, Butterflies Eyecare has been able to react quickly and source alternative solutions for our customers so they didn't run out.
The first one to be affected was Lacri-lube and this then affected Xailin Night as everyone switched to it. It's important to remember that prescriptions are also issued for these ointments that need to be fulfilled too.
Hylo-Night then became the alternative until stock dried up, followed by Hycosan Night and Hydramed Night. Prescriptions were then changed to carbomer gels such as Xailin gel and Clinitas gel. The result being these started to go out of stock too! This domino effect is commonly seen in all out of stock situations.
We were able to build a cushion of buffer stock by ordering from different wholesalers as and when stock became available to fulfil demand but this is a constant battle.
Eye Ointments
Carbomer eye gels
Don't be tempted to cut corners as I heard that some people were using Vaseline instead. It isn't manufactured to be preservative-free or sterile for use in the eye. And the jar is easily contaminated with bacteria compared to a tube even if you are using cotton buds to apply it.
Currently (13/10) we have stock of most eye ointments with only Xailin Night and Hycosan Night being out of stock. For the carbomer gels the picture is not as good with only Ocufresh Carbomer eye gel still in stock.
We pride ourselves on staying up to date and proactive with dry eye products, but this is an ever changing situation. So keep checking our website for our regular stock updates.
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Expert advice
“As a pharmacist I regularly offer advice on using eye drops, vitamins and hypo-allergenic skincare and cosmetics.”
Michelle Sutton (BPharm MRPharmS)
Founder of Butterflies Eyecare
