Poly Visc Eye Ointment

✔ Stock on hand — ships NZ-wide from Rose Optometry, Hamilton.

Poly Visc — a night-time ointment, not a daytime drop

Poly Visc is a paraffin-based lubricating eye ointment. It is thick, it is greasy, and that is entirely the point.

An ointment stays on the eye for hours rather than minutes. A drop put in at bedtime has long since drained away by three in the morning; an ointment has not. That is why the people who get the most from Poly Visc are the ones whose worst symptoms arrive on opening their eyes in the morning — gritty, stuck, sore, sometimes genuinely painful for the first minutes of the day.

It is also the standard answer for incomplete lid closure overnight (nocturnal lagophthalmos), which is far more common than people realise and is a cause of dryness that no daytime drop will ever reach. Plenty of patients use Poly Visc at night alongside an ordinary artificial tear through the day.

The honest caveat: it will blur your vision substantially, for several minutes. That is not a side effect to be tolerated — it is the direct consequence of putting a greasy film across your visual axis, and it is precisely why this is a bedtime product. Put it in, close your eyes, go to sleep. Do not drive, read or work after using it.

If you are reaching for an ointment during the day, the answer is not a thicker ointment — it is a proper look at why your eyes are that dry. That usually means the oil glands in the lid margin, and the tools for those are heat and lid hygiene, not more lubricant.

Who it's for

• Waking with gritty, stuck or painful eyes.
• Incomplete lid closure overnight (nocturnal lagophthalmos).
• Severe or exposure-related dry eye, used alongside daytime drops.
• Anyone whose bedtime drop simply doesn't last until morning.
• Not for daytime use, and not for driving days.

Questions we get asked

Will it blur my vision?
Yes — noticeably, for several minutes. This is a bedtime product for that reason. Do not use it and then drive or read.

Can I use it with contact lenses in?
No. Take lenses out first. Ointment and lens surfaces do not mix, and in any case lenses should be out before sleep unless we have specifically fitted you for overnight wear.

How often can I use it?
Usually once, at bedtime — follow what your optometrist has advised for you. If you are reaching for an ointment during the day, the answer is not a thicker ointment; it is a proper look at why your eyes are that dry.

Does it contain a preservative?
Check the pack for the current formulation — we would rather you read the carton than take our word for it. If preservative-free specifically matters to you, Vita-POS is explicitly preservative-free. The general rule still holds: more than about four doses a day of anything, go preservative-free.

How long does it keep once opened?
The tube states a discard-after-opening period. Write the date you opened it on the tube and follow that — an ointment tube tip touches the lid margin every night.

Poly Visc or Vita-POS?
Poly Visc is a straightforward paraffin lubricant, widely used and usually cheaper. Vita-POS is preservative-free and contains vitamin A — the better pick for indefinite nightly use or a sensitive ocular surface. Both blur. Both are bedtime products.

Using drops all day and still uncomfortable? Then the drop isn't the problem — the diagnosis is. Read about meibomian gland dysfunction, look at heat and lid hygiene, or Book a free Dry Eye Evaluation in Hamilton — 15 minutes, no cost.

Why buy from Rose Optometry

• Independent, optometrist-owned New Zealand practice — in Hamilton since 1969.
• Free optometrist advice with every order; reply to your order email and a clinician answers.
• Free NZ shipping on orders over $100, sent from Hamilton.