Furnace Season Dry Eye: Drop vs Gel vs Redness Reliever
Furnace Season Dry Eye: Drop vs Gel vs Redness Reliever
Buy the preservative-free hyaluronic acid drop. I-DROP PUR is $35 and I-DROP PUR GEL is $42 at Charm Optical in south Edmonton, and both ship across Canada. Use the $35 bottle a few times a day, step up to the $42 gel if that is not enough, and skip redness-relief drops entirely.
The furnace kicks in around the first week of October and the air in your house gets thin. The American Academy of Ophthalmology's dry eye advice is blunt about it: "Stay away from very warm rooms. In the winter, add moisture to the air with a humidifier. Or put a pan of water near your heater or radiator." If you want the full picture on why Alberta is hard on eyes, we already wrote it: Dry Eyes in Alberta. This page is only about the bottle decision — which one you should actually be holding.
The 20-second answer
- Start here
- I-DROP® PUR — $35. 0.18% hyaluronic acid, preservative-free, contact-lens compatible.
- Step up to
- I-DROP® PUR GEL — $42. 0.30% hyaluronic acid, for moderate to severe dryness.
- Skip
- Redness-relief drops. Most are tetrahydrozoline, which causes rebound redness — and none of them treat the dryness, only the colour.
- Where
- Online at charmoptical.ca, shipped across Canada. Picking one up at 5035 Ellerslie Rd SW instead? Call first.
Drop, gel or redness reliever: which should you buy?
Three bottles sit next to each other and they do three different jobs. A thin lubricating drop replaces the water your tear film is losing. A gel drop does the same thing with more body, so it stays put longer. A redness reliever squeezes the blood vessels on the white of your eye so it looks calmer — it does nothing for dryness.
The two we sell are both made by I-MED Pharma, a Canadian company. The only real difference between them is how much hyaluronic acid is in the bottle, which is another way of saying how thick the drop is and how long it stays on your eye.
| What you are comparing | I-DROP® PUR $35 · start here | I-DROP® PUR GEL $42 · step up | Redness relievers skip these |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it actually does | Adds water and lubrication back to the tear film | Same, with a thicker film that lasts longer per drop | Shrinks the blood vessels so the eye looks whiter |
| Hyaluronic acid | 0.18% | 0.30% | None — most are tetrahydrozoline, a decongestant |
| Viscosity | Light, viscoadaptive | Heavier, viscoadaptive | Watery |
| Preservatives | None | None | Usually preserved |
| Blurs your vision? | I-MED lists it as non-blurring on application | I-MED lists it as non-blurring on application | No, but see the rebound problem below |
| Safe over contact lenses? | Yes — labelled contact-lens compatible | Not claimed on the label — ask us first | We would not — take the lenses out first |
| How often | A few times a day, as you need it | Fewer applications for the same relief | No more than 72 hours, per the AAO |
| Bottle | 10 mL, 240 drops, good 12 months after opening | 10 mL, 240 drops, good 12 months after opening | Varies by brand |
| Made for | Mild to moderate chronic dry eye | Moderate to severe chronic dry eye | Cosmetic redness, short term only |
| Price at Charm Optical | $35 | $42 | We do not sell them |
Concentrations, drop counts, non-blurring claim, 12-month open life and the mild/moderate/severe positioning come from the I-DROP PUR and I-DROP PUR GEL product pages. The 72-hour limit comes from the American Academy of Ophthalmology. Prices are Charm Optical's own, in Canadian dollars.
Where can you buy I-DROP PUR and PUR GEL in Canada?
Both bottles are on our online eye care shelf at charmoptical.ca and both ship across Canada. Want to pick one up at 5035 Ellerslie Rd SW in south Edmonton instead? Call (780) 490-0090 first and we will confirm we have it on hand — hours and directions are here. Shipping is free on orders over $100, so a single bottle ships at the normal rate.
Start here
I-DROP® PUR
0.18% hyaluronic acid · preservative-free · 10 mL, 240 drops · contact-lens compatible
$35 CAD
Buy I-DROP PUR
Step up
I-DROP® PUR GEL
0.30% hyaluronic acid · preservative-free · 10 mL, 240 drops · moderate to severe dry eye
$42 CAD
Buy I-DROP PUR GELIf you are not sure which one to order, order the $35 bottle first. It is the one most people need, and $7 is not the reason to guess high. If you are already going through a bottle faster than a month, start with the gel instead.
How long does one bottle last, and what does it cost a day?
This is the question the price tag does not answer. A $42 bottle that lasts twice as long as a $35 bottle is the less expensive bottle. I-MED states 240 drops per 10 mL bottle for both products, which makes the arithmetic simple. Drag the slider to your own dosing habit.
What a bottle really costs you
Set how many drops a day you use in total. Both bottles hold 240 drops, so days per bottle, cost per day and a year of dosing all fall out of that one number.
- Days per bottle
- 60
- Cost per day
- $0.58
- Bottles per year
- 6.1
- A year of dosing
- $213
- Days per bottle
- 60
- Cost per day
- $0.70
- Bottles per year
- 6.1
- A year of dosing
- $256
Four drops a day is normal furnace-season dosing. One $35 bottle covers two months.
Same drop count for both bottles, so the gel only wins on cost if it genuinely lets you dose less often. I-MED does advertise "lower therapy costs due to the need for less applications" for the gel — how much less is personal, so the calculator does not assume it for you.
The same math, printed
| Drops a day | Days per bottle | PUR per day | PUR per year | GEL per day | GEL per year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 240 | $0.15 | $53 | $0.18 | $64 |
| 2 | 120 | $0.29 | $106 | $0.35 | $128 |
| 4 | 60 | $0.58 | $213 | $0.70 | $256 |
| 6 | 40 | $0.88 | $319 | $1.05 | $383 |
| 8 | 30 | $1.17 | $426 | $1.40 | $511 |
| 12 | 20 | $1.75 | $639 | $2.10 | $767 |
Arithmetic only: 240 drops per bottle (I-MED Pharma) divided by your daily use, priced at Charm Optical's $35 and $42. A year assumes 365 days at that rate, which almost nobody does — most people in Edmonton dose heavily from October to April and barely touch a bottle in July.
Can you use these drops with contacts in?
I-DROP PUR is labelled contact-lens compatible, which is the whole reason it is the bottle we point lens wearers at. The PUR GEL page makes no such claim, so do not assume it — ask us before you put the thicker one in over a lens.
Contacts in dry furnace air are their own problem. A lens sits in your tear film, and when the film thins out the lens starts to grab. If that is your October pattern, the fix is often the lens material or the wearing schedule rather than the drop. That is a contact lens conversation, and it is worth having before you buy a third bottle of anything.
Why skip the redness-relief drops?
Because they work, briefly, and then they work against you. The American Academy of Ophthalmology puts it plainly:
Redness can return when the drops wear off. Sometimes the redness can be worse than before. This is called rebound redness. American Academy of Ophthalmology, Redness-Relieving Eye Drops
The AAO adds that the rebound "can worsen over time, leading to persistent red eyes" and that for this reason many eye doctors recommend preservative-free artificial tears instead. It also sets a hard ceiling: don't use redness-relieving drops for more than 72 hours, the same way you would not stay on a nasal decongestant for weeks.
One fair caveat, in the AAO's own words: most of these bottles are built on a decongestant called tetrahydrozoline, and there is "a newer decongestant drop called brimonidine… it has a lower risk for rebound redness." So the rebound warning is not equally true of every bottle on the pharmacy shelf. It changes nothing about our advice, though, because neither ingredient adds anything back to your tear film. A lower-rebound way to whiten a dry eye is still not a treatment for the dry eye.
One more reason
The AAO also warns that people with narrow-angle glaucoma should not use decongestant drops at all, because of the risk of an angle-closure attack. If nobody has ever looked at your drainage angle, that is not a risk to run over a cosmetic drop.
Red eyes in October are usually dry eyes in October. Treat the dryness and the colour follows.
When are drops not the answer?
Drops manage a symptom. They do not diagnose anything. The AAO's own guidance for artificial tears sets a useful line: "If you use artificial tears more than six times a day or are allergic to preservatives, you should use preservative-free tears." Both I-DROP bottles clear that bar — but needing six or more drops a day is itself information worth bringing to an exam.
Book an eye exam instead of another bottle if any of this sounds like you:
- Symptoms are getting worse month over month, not just in cold snaps
- Over-the-counter drops used properly are no longer helping
- There is real pain, light sensitivity, or discharge — not just grittiness
- Vision blurs and does not clear when you blink
- One eye is clearly worse than the other
A comprehensive adult eye exam at Charm Optical is $99 when AHCIP does not cover you. AHCIP does cover exams for Albertans under 19 and 65 and over, and for certain medical conditions. Appointments are available online at see.charmoptical.ca, and you can read what the exam includes on our eye exam page or the wider services page. We are appointment only, so book ahead.
Frequently asked questions
Where can I buy I-DROP PUR GEL in Canada?
Charm Optical sells I-DROP PUR GEL online at charmoptical.ca for $42 and ships it across Canada. You can also buy it at our store at 5035 Ellerslie Rd SW in south Edmonton — call (780) 490-0090 first and we will confirm we have it on hand. The lighter I-DROP PUR is $35. Both are 10 mL bottles.
What is the difference between I-DROP PUR and I-DROP PUR GEL?
Concentration. I-MED Pharma makes I-DROP PUR with 0.18% hyaluronic acid for mild to moderate dry eye, and I-DROP PUR GEL with 0.30% for moderate to severe dry eye. The gel is thicker and stays on the eye longer per drop. Both are preservative-free, both hold 240 drops, and both are described as non-blurring on application.
Can I use I-DROP PUR with my contact lenses in?
Yes. I-MED Pharma labels I-DROP PUR as compatible with contact lenses. The I-DROP PUR GEL page does not make that claim, so ask us before using the thicker gel over a lens rather than assuming it is the same.
How many drops are in a bottle, and how long does it last?
I-MED Pharma states 240 drops in each 10 mL bottle. At 4 drops a day that is 60 days, and at 2 drops a day it is 120 days. I-MED says either bottle can be used for up to 12 months after it is opened.
Are redness-relief eye drops bad for dry eyes?
They do not treat dryness at all, whichever one you buy. The American Academy of Ophthalmology writes that most are made from a decongestant called tetrahydrozoline, and that redness can return when the drops wear off and can be worse than before, which it calls rebound redness. The AAO notes that a newer decongestant, brimonidine, carries a lower risk of that rebound — but neither ingredient does anything for dryness, and the AAO says not to use either for more than 72 hours.
How many times a day is too many for artificial tears?
The American Academy of Ophthalmology says that if you use artificial tears more than six times a day, you should be using preservative-free tears. Both I-DROP bottles are preservative-free, so frequent dosing is safe with them. Needing that many drops is still worth an eye exam.
Will a humidifier help as much as drops?
It helps for a different reason, so use both. The American Academy of Ophthalmology's dry eye prevention advice is to stay away from very warm rooms and to add moisture to the air with a humidifier in winter, or put a pan of water near your heater. Drops replace what your tear film has already lost.
Do I need an eye exam, or will drops fix it?
Drops manage the symptom. Book an exam if symptoms keep getting worse, if drops used properly stop helping, or if you have pain, light sensitivity, discharge, or blurred vision that does not clear when you blink. A comprehensive adult exam at Charm Optical is $99 when AHCIP does not cover you.
Order it online today
Both bottles are on the Charm Optical online eye care shelf, and both ship across Canada.
I-DROP® PUR $35 for everyday furnace-season dryness. I-DROP® PUR GEL $42 when the light drop is not lasting. Preservative-free, 240 drops a bottle, from I-MED Pharma in Saint-Laurent, Quebec.