Why can I taste eye drops in my throat?

You can taste eye drops because your eyes drain into your nose. MedlinePlus explains that tears flow into a tiny opening in the inner corner of each eye, the entrance to the tear duct, which carries them into the nose. From there, a little liquid runs down the back of the throat, where you taste it. A faint taste after a drop simply means the drop followed the same path your tears always take.

How tears drain from the eye

Your eyes make tears around the clock, and they need somewhere to go. According to MedlinePlus, the National Library of Medicine’s health site, tears drain through a very small opening called the punctum in the corner of the eye near your nose. That opening is the entrance to the nasolacrimal duct, the pathway that carries tears from the surface of the eye into the nose.

Each blink helps pump tears toward those openings. Normally the amount is so small you never notice it. But an eye drop adds liquid all at once, much more than the eye usually holds, and the extra follows the same path.

Why can I taste eye drops in the back of my throat?

The inside of the nose connects to the back of the throat. When an eye drop drains into your nose, some of it trickles back and down, just like the drip you notice when you have a cold. It reaches the back of the tongue and throat, where taste buds pick it up. That’s why the taste often shows up a minute or two after the drop rather than right away.

It also explains why crying makes your nose run: it’s the same drainage system working overtime.

Why some drops taste stronger than others

• Ingredients differ. Some dissolved ingredients have a noticeable taste even in tiny amounts.
• A bigger drop, or a second drop when the first missed, sends more liquid down the duct.
• Blinking hard right after a drop pushes more of it toward the drainage openings.
• Some people are simply more sensitive to taste than others.

Quell’s ingredients include Glycerol (1.0%), Polysorbate 80 (1.0%) and Light Mineral Oil (0.5%) as actives, and inactive ingredients such as Caprylyl Glycol, Dead Sea Salt (Sodium Chloride), Emu Oil, Glyceryl Laurate, Glyceryl Undecylenate, Manuka Honey, Polaxamer 188, Sterile Water, Terminalia Chubula and Tromethamine. If you notice a mild taste after using it, that’s the drop following the tear drainage path described above.

How to taste eye drops less

You can’t switch the drainage off, but you can keep more of the drop on your eye and send less down your throat:

• Use one drop, as the directions say: Apply 1 drop 3 times per day in each eye. A second drop on top of the first mostly overflows or drains away.
• After the drop goes in, close your eye gently for a moment instead of blinking rapidly.
• Don’t squeeze your eyelids shut hard; that pushes liquid toward the inner corner.
• Ask a pharmacist whether gently pressing the inner corner of the eye after a drop makes sense for you. It’s a technique some people are shown for certain medicines.
• Wipe any extra from your cheek with a clean tissue rather than letting it run toward your nose.

How to use eye drops as directed walks through getting one drop where it belongs.

Is it bad to taste eye drops?

Tasting a drop isn’t the same as swallowing one in any meaningful amount. The quantity that drains down the throat is tiny. Most people notice it, maybe find it odd or a little bitter, and that’s the end of it. It doesn’t mean the drop missed your eye, and it doesn’t mean you need another one.

Swallowing liquid from the bottle is a different matter. The label is clear: If swallowed, get medical help or contact a Poison Control Center immediately. Keep bottles out of reach of children, who may drink from anything that looks interesting, and don’t store eye drops next to oral medicines or nasal sprays where they could be mixed up. What does “for use in the eyes only” mean? covers the rest.

Why can I taste eye drops in my nose?

Some people notice the drop in their nose before they taste it, as a cool or wet feeling, or the urge to sniff. That’s the same drainage, caught a step earlier. Blowing your nose right after a drop won’t harm anything, though it may pull more of the liquid down the duct. Waiting a minute or two is gentler.

When a taste or drainage needs attention

A faint taste is normal. Tell a doctor or pharmacist if you notice any of these:

• Your eye is always watery and tears spill onto your cheek, which can mean drainage isn’t working as it should.
• You have pain, swelling or tenderness at the inner corner of the eye, near the nose.
• A drop causes stinging that doesn’t settle, or your eye feels worse after using it.
• You feel unwell, dizzy or short of breath after using any eye drop.

And for the eye itself, the label sets the limits: Stop use and ask a doctor if you feel eye pain or changes in your vision, if irritation or redness continues, or if the condition worsens or persists for 72 hours.

Questions the label doesn’t answer

If you use more than one kind of eye drop, or you’re putting drops in a child’s eyes, Quell’s label doesn’t give directions for that. Ask your eye doctor or pharmacist how to space them or whether they’re suitable. The full panel is on our Drug Facts page.