For Patients

Vital Tears has made serum tears simple. Get your drops in as little as 48 hours from your blood draw.

Learn How to Access Vital Tears

What Are Vital Tears?

Ophthalmologists and optometrists have offered serum tears to their patients for over 30 years. Autologous serum eye drops (ASEDs), autologous serum tears (ASTs), or just serum tears are customized drops made from a patient’s own blood.

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What Makes Vital Tears Different?

Vital Tears Are:

Preservative Free

Vital Tears are preservative free

Custom Made

Vital Tears are custom made to provide optimal doses as advised by a patient’s physician.

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Safe

Vital Tears are processed in a medical laboratory with validated safety procedures.

Microfiltered

Vital Tears are microfiltered to remove pathogens .

Who Is Vital Tears?

Vital Tears was founded in 2015 with a mission to provide convenient, high-quality serum tears for anyone in the United States. We are passionate about helping patients get the serum tears they need quickly and conveniently.

How Do I Get Vital Tears?

Talk With Your Physician

Get Your Blood Drawn

Schedule Delivery

Find a Physician

Fill out the form below for information on providers near you.

Patient FAQs and Resources

Frequently Asked Questions

When your physician decides that Vital Tears are right for you, we make it easy to get started.

  1. Contact our Patient Services team (800-360-9592) to schedule your blood draw at one of our contracted blood collection facilities. You can also choose to have your blood drawn at home. Please note that the time required to schedule a mobile blood draw depends on your geographic location and availability.
  2. Once your blood is collected, it will be shipped to our laboratory where trained technicians will process your serum tears.
  3. When your tears are ready to ship, we will call you to schedule delivery. It’s important to note that Vital Tears are shipped cold or frozen, so you’ll need to be available to sign for the delivery. Your tears are typically ready to ship within 48 hours of your blood draw, so expect a call from us the day after your blood draw appointment.
We can help connect you to a physician in your area that can assist you to determine if Vital Tears is right for you.  Alternatively, if you already have a physician that you would like to become a Vital Tears provider, we would be happy to reach out and get the clinic registered and trained.  Simply provide us with your physician’s contact information and we will reach out.  Click here to connect with us.

Our priority is getting your serum tears shipped as soon as 48 hours from your blood draw. Our dedicated Patient Services team will work with you to have your tears delivered quickly and conveniently.

While some insurance companies reimburse for Vital Tears when patients submit a claim, generally Vital Tears is a self-pay service. Our Patient Services team can provide forms to help you submit a claim to your insurance provider. You may contact Patient Services at 800.360.9592 for more information.

The cost of Vital Tears is based on the treatment plan that your physician has ordered. Our Patient Services team can help you determine how much your Vital Tears will cost and discuss our convenient payment plans with you.  Please call us at 800-360-9592.

Depending on your physician’s order, between three and 14 vials of blood will be drawn and processed for Vital Tears. This may sound like a lot, but it is less than a few ounces. Since you are not giving much blood, you should feel fine afterwards.

The most important thing you can do to ensure a successful blood draw is hydrate. Please try to consume half your body weight in ounces of water in the 24 hours leading up to your blood draw. For best results you should also avoid or limit ca­ffeine, alcohol, and high fat foods for 24 hours before your blood draw appointment. You do not need to fast before the blood draw.

Because Vital Tears are made from biological material and are preservative free, they must be kept refrigerated.

Your Vital Tears will be shipped cold or frozen. Store the bottle of tears you are using in the refrigerator and put the remaining vials upright in the freezer. A bottle of Vital Tears will last for one week in the refrigerator. Stop using the bottle and discard it after seven days. The bottles stored in the freezer are good for six months.

Because Vital Tears are made from biological material and are preservative free, they must be kept refrigerated. It is recommended that you carry drops in a cooler with ice or frozen gel packs if you are going to be out for more than an hour or are planning on being in hot temperatures.

If your Vital Tears must be out of the refrigerator for more than one hour, carry them in a cooler with ice or frozen gel packs. You may also use a portable medicine cooler to store your tears when away from home.

Links

Please note: These links are provided for your convenience. Vital Tears does not monitor content for accuracy on these, or any other websites it links to and shall have no responsibility or liability for the content contained on these sites.

*Discuss with your physician the benefits and risks associated with the use of autologous serum eye drops. If you and your physician conclude that the use of autologous serum eye drops are appropriate for you, your physician will provide you further instructions for using Vital Tears. Your physician’s directions for use will be provided with your customized order.