tobramycin / dexamethasone

Use TobraDex (tobramycin / dexamethasone) as directed by your prescriber. Don't stop using it before you complete treatment, even if your eye starts to get better. Your infection might come back or become harder to treat if you stop using the medication too early.

Talk with your primary care provider if your eye inflammation or eye infection gets worse after you start using TobraDex (tobramycin / dexamethasone). You might need to get your eye checked out to see whether the medication is the most appropriate for your infection.

Don't let the tip of the bottle or tube touch the eye, eyelid, or other surfaces. Don't touch the tip with your fingers. Otherwise, the medication can get contaminated. Using contaminated medication in the eye can cause serious harm, such as eye infection or vision loss.

TobraDex (tobramycin / dexamethasone) can temporarily blur your vision. Don't drive a car or operate machinery until you know how this medication affects your vision and until you can see clearly.

Remove any contact lenses from your eyes before each time you use TobraDex (tobramycin / dexamethasone). Some formulations of the medication contain a preservative called benzalkonium chloride. This preservative can get absorbed by soft contact lenses, which might affect how well the lenses work, fit, or feel on the eyes.

In general, it's best not to wear contact lenses when you have an eye infection so that your infection doesn't get worse or your eye doesn't get even more irritated. Make sure to throw away the contact lenses you were wearing before you started using TobraDex (tobramycin / dexamethasone); they most likely have bacteria on them.

Wash your hands with soap and water before and after each time you use TobraDex (tobramycin / dexamethasone). Discuss with your primary care provider or with your care team about other ways to help prevent your eye infection from getting worse and any new eye infections from popping up.

Shake the bottle well before using. This makes sure the medication hasn’t settled at the bottom of the bottle.

To use the eye drops, pull down your lower eyelid with one hand. Hold the bottle upside down just above the eye with the other hand. Gently squeeze the bottle to get the number of drops you need in your eye. Then, close your eye and press your finger to the corner of your eye closest to your nose for a minute. This helps the medication stay in your eye and prevents it from leaking into the nose.

If you need to use another eye drop in the same eye, wait a few minutes so the second eye drop doesn't rinse off the first one.

Pull down your lower eyelid with one hand, and hold the tube of ointment with the other.

Place a small amount (about one-half of an inch) of ointment in the space between your lower eyelid and eyeball. Briefly look down before you close your eye for a few minutes to help the medication reach all the necessary parts of the eye.