Compositions useful for improving effectiveness of alpha-2-adrenergic agonistcomponents include carrier components, alpha-2-adrenergic agonist components,solubility enhancing components which aid in solubilizing the alpha-2-adrenergic agonist components. In one embodiment, the alpha-2-adrenergicagonist components include alpha-2-adrenergic agonists. In another embodiment,the solubility enhancing components include povidone or ployvinyl alcohol.