Hycosan Extra or Hycosan Intense

They sit next to each other, cost within pennies of each other, come in the same 7.5ml metered bottle, and are both preservative-free. The names suggest a ladder — Extra, then Intense — and that is not quite what is going on.

What the packs actually say

Hycosan Extra is a preservative-free lubricating eye drop with a higher sodium hyaluronate concentration than Hycosan Original. That comparison — against Original, not against Intense — is the one the pack makes.

Hycosan Intense is preservative-free and contains sodium hyaluronate with ectoin. It is a different formulation rather than a stronger one, and the pack quotes approximately 225 drops per bottle and six months of use after opening.

So: Extra is the Hycosan hyaluronate drop at a higher concentration. Intense adds a second ingredient. Neither pack describes itself as stronger than the other.

What they share

• Preservative-free, in a 7.5ml metered bottle.
• Usable for six months after opening — long, as preservative-free drops go.
• Sold singly, or in packs of two or three. The multipack is meaningfully cheaper per bottle, and each product page shows the unit price.

Hycosan Intense states that it is suitable for use with contact lenses. Where a pack does not state it, do not assume it.

And Hycosan Night

The third product in the range is not a drop at all. Hycosan Night is a preservative-free ointment in a 5g tube, thicker than drops and labelled for night-time use. If you are comparing Extra and Intense for daytime use, Night is not an alternative to either — it is the other half of a routine some people are given.

What we are not going to tell you

Which one to buy. The packs describe two different formulations, not a better and a worse, and choosing between them properly means knowing something about your eyes that a website does not. Ask a pharmacist or your optometrist — and if either has already put you on one of them, stay on it.

Always read the label and the information supplied with the product before use.