Top Natural Remedies for Dry Eyes - Internal and External Applications

For five years, I had severe dry, red, gritty, scratchy eyes, it was worse at night. I saw tons of specialist, MD and ND's. Tried eye drops, castor oil, vitamins, tear duct plugs and even the lipiflow was normal, nothing worked.

One day at the dentist, he began telling me he is shocked at the growing numbers of people that were clenching and grinding their teeth and that it had grown exponentially, in that last few years. To stop the patients teeth from being damaged he was making mouth guard. The dentist made me a custom made mouth guard for me and I started wearing it at night and I noticed that my dry eyes were cured! I could hardly believe it! You can buy mouth guards at the drug store it is cheaper. A custom made mouth guard from the dentist office is a perfect fit. I was totally unaware of this, but I was clenching my teeth at night. This causes muscle tightness, causes inflammation, then nerve compression of the tear ducts and effects your optic nerves and ear nerves! Grinding and clenching your teeth can also cause neck, shoulder, head tension and jaw pain. Since I like to look at the cause teeth grinding and clenching may be caused by stress, the pressures of the fast world or it could be a parasite infestation. Anyhow, I took up yoga, stopped caffeine and went on Hulda Clark's parasite cleanse. Anyhow, this might help someone that had the same problem as me

Potassium supplementation for Dry Eyes

If you have had to deal with any of the COVD colds these past few years check with the doctor to find out if your potassium level is up to par. Besides Vitamin C and Melatonin, Potassium was one of the earlier supplements that helped people recover from COVD. From what I understood that condition used up or drained the body's potassium.

I am adding this thought on potassium because lately I have been trying keep up with the daily recommendation for Potassium. Articles say 3,500–4,700 mg of potassium daily and that it is safer when taken in foods. This really is not hard if you love banana, spinach, prunes etc. . However, knowing that I do not have enough potassium rich foods on hand, I take potassium supplements. I noticed that when I wake up in the morning, my eyes feel much more normal. In fact, sometimes I forget it has been sticking.

I could not find much information to verify this, but what I did come up with is in this post. I found a post from PubMed that incudes what tears are made of in this statement"

"Methods: The model is based on mass balances of water and solutes such as glucose, sodium, potassium, and chloride."

Check it out the PubMed Article:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17453939/

Here is an article about potassium Deficiency and dry eyes:

https://healthfully.com/347415-potassium-deficiency-and-dry-eyes.html

I have always been concerned about seniors, and now that I am one, I see and feel what they are saying.

HisJewel

I love EarthClinic!! I have struggled with dry eyes for so many years especially in the winter. I did try ACV which helps but when I read about Castor Oil, cold pressed, I thought why not. I purchased it and transferred a small amount to my lower lids with a q-tip and close my eyes for a moment. I do this at night and in the mooring or when my eyes feel dry. WOW!! It works. I am so grateful not to be suffering.

Baking soda works much better than prescription eye drops for me. It lasts longer so you don't have to apply as frequently as drops and it is more effective as well. Stops tearing and more soothing. One eye seems to be cured while the other still gets watery. When that happens, I apply remedy to lid as someone on EC recommended. Then when it returns, I do it again. Much happier that I found this remedy.

I had lasik surgery on my eyes several years ago. Over time they became very dry and painful. I ended up taking prescription eye drops, and it helped some but they still hurt. A local eye doctor suggested that I take 1,000 mg each of fish oil and flax seed oil a day. I have been taking this for years now and no longer have any pain from the dryness. I was able to stop the eye drops in less than a month of taking the fish and flax seed oils. I will likely have to take them for life, but they have many other health benefits, so its fine with me! If I miss a few days, I can always tell - the dryness starts back up. You also need to take BOTH. I've tried each alone & it doesn't work near as well.

I hope this helps someone as much as it helped me. Thank you so much EC for being such a blessing to so many!

For people having trouble with coffee and it's acidity causing more problems with dry eyes, you should try adding baking soda to the coffee. I add 1/8th teaspoon to a big cup. I have checked it with ph testing paper as well as I have a ph testing meter.

Yes, Rob, I can attest to the efficacy of the baking-soda-in-water eye wash. It helps for itchy eyes, red eyes and probably for some other eye woes.

L-Carnosine for Dry Eyes

Ted was right on point with the L Carnosine for dry eyes. L-Carnosine or Carnosine is expensive, but it works hilariously. I used 1000mg a day (two capsules) the first 2 weeks then went down to 500mgs a day because of the cost, my eyes are still loving it. I no longer have to rub castor oil on my eyelids at night. May the cures continue to be revealed.

HisJewel

I've had dry eyes over the years but it wasn't that bad. When I had it, they put in plugs to keep the moisture/water in my eyes. Then, they prescribed drops for me to put it at night and put in during the day. Then, about two years ago, my boyfriend got it as well - and we visited a few top notch eye doctors - and they prescribed Restasis.

When I discovered Earth Clinic and started testing out their remedies for other ailments and found they worked, I found the remedy for dry eyes of castor oil that many recommended. So we went to buy A-grade castor oil from the homeopathic pharmacy with the dropper, and then, we both started using it on our eyes - first on our eyelids at night. Then, after we found that the redness was nearly gone in the morning or next day, we started dropping it into our eyes. It truly works!

The white of the eyes seems much whiter and not so yellow! My lashes seem to love it and I feel like they're growing longer and thicker! The only thing is that I wear contact lens, and am trying to figure out if I should do an eye wash in the morning so there will be no more "oil" - which attaches to my daily-wear contact lens - and creates a blur!

I wanted to share with you all that the castor oil is miraculous for dry eyes and works! And, thank you to Earth Clinic and everybody else who writes in regarding wonderful remedies for healing!

I'm 57 and have suffered with eyes that are 'glued' shut every morning for the last two years. If I open one before soaking it in saline, it tears the cornea and takes about two days to heal. I've tried every eye drop and also wake up two or three times per night to wet them. Strange but I have no significant daytime issues with dryness.

After reading this post, I went to Whole Foods and bought cold pressed Castor Oil. I dropped one drop in each eye before bed time and woke up to a completely rested and lubricated eye. I can't believe it. Only a sample of one so far but I had to post this. I'll update as I progress.

I have been struggling with dry eyes all my life. I have always found that if the air is a little too cold or windy, my eyes immediately begin to water uncontrollably. I tend to wear mascara and eyeliner etc, so I would always have black under my eyes which was also rather embarrassing. I would also find my eyes would get red and start stinging in these situations. I heard about people putting a couple of drops of castor oil into each eye before going to bed. I tried this myself. The first couple of nights it can sting a little, but disappears when your eyes are closed. After about a week, my problem disappeared. It also made THE WHITES OF MY EYES WHITER, AND THE BLUE MUCH BRIGHTER! ! ! My eyes now look like my 1 year olds pure, sparkling eyes! Fabulous! My EYELASHES ALSO GREW THICKER AND LONGER within that week. Your eyes naturally have an oil layer. This helps nourish that layer of the eye. You can buy eye drops that are very costly, but the main ingredient in them is castor oil anyway. Save yourself some money and buy castor oil!

Dry Eyes:

I went to doctors, used Restasis, gentle. Nothing helped. Even made worse. Started researching. Found lady doc in Internet.

Said NO SUGAR AT ALL AND DRINK LOTS OF BOTTLED WATER.

FOR MONTHS I WAS IN PAIN AND MISEREABLE. IN 3 DAYS MY EYES CLEARED UP. NO MORE DRYNESS, WATERY EYES BURNING OR ITCHING.

I am legally blind and my vision has even improved.

No more drugs, drops or health aids, only healthy habits water and No sugar, no sugar has helped in other ways as well and losing weight.

Since my eyes were staying so red and veiny I decided to check out the info here on Earth Clinic for dry eyes. Wow a lot of people have this problem. The one thing I did was use aloe juice on my eye lids. I am very surprised and appreciative that my eyes are much better. I was dropping it in my eyes but it was very painful so I stopped. It was hard to believe applying it to my eye lids would work but it is great. My eyes are so much more comfortable. I tend to think more is better so the first day I did it about 8X. putting a small amount in the bottom of a glass and using my finger to dip in and apply to my eye lid until it was dripping down my face. I noticed more comfort and less red immediately. I would still suggest to check dry eye page on here. Hope this helps someone.

I take Omega 3 oil for my chronic dry eye syndrome.

My eye doctor wanted to put me on Restasis and also maybe put plugs in my tear ducts. I went home and did a research on the net. In Sweden (where I'm from originally) there was clinical studies done proving the O3 oil does work. I had some at home, but stopped taking it as I didn't like the fishy taste. I found someone who suggested to take them just before going to bed. I did and the next morning was such a change!!! So, now I do this every night! I do still have to watch what I eat to avoid too acidic food as that has an effect.

Okay, so it has been awhile with this Borage Oil experiment and at about three weeks I noticed that my dry eye condition started to diminish, similarly to the black currant seed oil and similarly, the benefit has been slow and gradual, so I would conclude from these two experiments that both borage oil and black currant seed oil are helpful for my dry eyes which are mainly a problem at night. I would not consider either one a cure as I feel certain that if I stop using the borage oil the effect will diminish just as with the black currant seed oil. Right now the main benefit I see is that when I wake in the morning, the pain associated with trying to open my eyes is almost gone and some days not a problem at all. Same thing if I happen to awaken at night, greatly reduced pain or discomfort upon opening my eyes. I have tried castor oil drops and they are helpful, but castor oil seemed to create its own kind of irritation during my waking hours so after trying a couple of brands, I have decided against the castor oil for me.

As far as any other benefit, the borage oil may be helping my skin to seem softer or smoother, but that is a very subjective thing for an individual to try and measure without proper equipment. Studies do tend to suggest that borage oil may be beneficial for skin in that it can help prevent transepidermal water loss. I have been taking this borage oil for roughly a month now and will update again if I find any other benefit with this experiment which I plan to continue for a bit.

EC, maybe you can add borage oil to your list of potential dry eye alternatives.

Art

In reply to Jane (Columbus, Oh),

Thank you for asking!

I just started on the borage oil this week as I had another experiment that I needed to finish first, so it is too early yet to know what if anything it will do for dry eyes.

As to diet, I have not changed my diet and don't want to at this point because I want to try and zero in on the affects of the borage oil, if any. If I try something else new at the same time, I can't know for sure whether any potential benefit is attributable to the borage oil, diet or anything else new to my regimen. I will post an update on this borage oil experiment if I find benefit for dry eyes or anything else.

Art

Thanks for your detailed post. I've had two nights and days of improved dry eyes since using mouth guard (chemist bought - found one with an added thin separate layer which I removed after heating and fitting. It is thin, comfortable and doesn't fall out). I've had dry eyes for 3 yrs. I'm 66 yo woman.

I started having dry eyes suddenly since 2 months no diagnosis yet. I have tried everything from drops to warm compressions.. Started using castor oil 1 drop in each eye at bed time and WOW haven't had dry eyes since even if I skip a day I don't feel dry and don't need any drops either in the day time and my eyes are white white white. I saw this remedy online by some lady from Florida and I really want to thank her.

I bought castor oil and it did not work it made my eyes, red irritated sensitive, the oil itself felt slightly gritty to me. Few month later my ND suggested I buy a bottle of castor oil for massage on my abdomen. I bought a large bottle and this particular castor oil seemed smooth, thick and not gritty (Homehealth) I decided to try a drop in my eyes and it worked without any side effects! Please note all Organic Cold Pressed Castor Oils are not the same.

Eileen,

So sorry to have missed your question...you anoint the outside of eyelid with the aloe vera. Also you can use a quarter teaspoon of baking soda in quarter glass of water...the alkaline of either will neutralize the acidic eye.

Again, apply on outside of eyelid.

I usually apply and wipe off and then reapply. If you think your fingers might be even slightly oily use a paper towel to perform application.

And remember, the acidic foods are what is at work in causing the dry eye...in my experience 90 percent of all my burning eye/dry eye condition is related to coffee and eating spicy products.

I also notice that I can count on a dry eye episode if I drink coffee, caffeinated or not.

Organic Castor Oil: I use a drop of this castor oil each night in both eyes at bedtime...just started this week, but I can feel a difference already, and it does not burn. My Dr has prescribed Restasis and refresh which costs a fortune to buy each month. Going to continue using the castor oil and hopefully will not have to buy the Dr prescribed meds again!