Top Natural Remedies for Dry Eyes - Internal and External Applications

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.

To anybody with painful and dry eyes, the best remedy is your own urine drops, virtual instant relief & anybody who says ugh, just suffer in silence because it works.

I was on a web site and some folks were talking about castor oil for the eye. I went to youtube and saw the woman describing how you do it. So, I decided to get me some castor oil and try it. Now, just to preface, I am 57 and have been have some kind of eye problem (dry, twitch, pressure, etc. For over 30 years. In one night, my eyes feel better than they have in years. For one, they are not rolling around in pain anymore. I usually am twisting them all day. As a teacher, this makes it really difficult to focus on reading out loud, etc. Now, I am mad. Mad at all the doctors who could never suggest something so simple. I am my best physician.

Castor Oil rocks!
Mary

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

I had Lasik and I ended up with dry eyes that made my vision blurry. I kept telling Lasik this and for 3 years they kept brushing it under the carpet and not listening to me. In the end I reported them to Better Business Bureau and they got me a refund on the Lasik procedure. I started a prescription eye drop called MAXITROL which seems to be slowly working but you can only use it for 7 days. I will however start using organic cold pressed castor oil eye drops as I've read so many testimonials at how amazing it is for chronic dry eyes. For those of you who have had Lasik and have been left with chronic dry eyes, report them to Better Business Bureau and request a refund. They will get it for you.

Dear HisJewel,

Great sleuthing!

You could try some nettle for your postnasal drip/sinus problem. If it is caused by an allergy, it may help a lot.

Or, if you have an infection, extra virgin coconut oil. That is our go-to for sinus infections.

~Mama to Many~

I suffer with chronic dry eye syndrome and was told I had to use restasis. Unfortunately I couldn't afford the price tag of nearly $600 per 3ml bottle. I found the generic form in India called cyclosporine (same ingredients as Restasis) for $10. It's sold on reliableRX

I take evening primrose oil AND vitamin E oil since going through menopause to treat very dry eyes. The combo is very effective. I take 1 capsule of vitamin e in the morning and 1 capsule of EPO, morning and evening. Hope this helps

I tired many things for my dry itchy eyes. What worked for me was natural raw Honey or Manuka Honey. You can dab it on the eyes straight or dilute it in a drop of pure water.

I tried various suggested cures for dry eyes, but they didn't totally work. Here is what I found that works for me.

I take a night guard (light blocker over the eyes), fold a paper towel in thirds, tear in half which now fits inside the blocker, lightly coat it with castor oil, saturate with water and put paper towel inside of blocker and over the eyes.

I also use lubricant eye drops in the eyes and that concoction lasts all night. In the AM I don't have dry eyes when I wake up.

I have been using castor oil for dry eyes after using many different eye drops that did not work.

The other result that I have observed is that it also makes eyebags minimized. Apply cold expressed castor oil with your clean finger to lower and upper eyelids - on top of the lashes, Results- eyebags will remarkably disappear.

How often should this be done? once, twice a day?

Hi - I had gradually worsening dry eyes due to lots of computer time and, I realize, worsening circulation despite exercising vigorously on a daily basis. I did oil pulling in the summer and it helped some, but then tried acupunture this fall for general wellness (after a marathon) and alas! Dry eyes became significantly better, along with circulation in extremities. I cannot speak more highly to the benefits of acupunture. Do yourself a favor and try it out in 2011!

Another cure for dry eyes. I was telling someone recently about how many supplements I take for dry eyes, they felt like that was way too many supplements. Well it was suggested that I stop all of it and just try taking 5- 8 teaspoons of Organic virgin Coconut Oil throughout the day. Well I decided I would try it because I really do not want to take so many supplements. I cannot believe it but it really works! Plus it made whites of eyes super white and my skin feels super soft too I also decreased my caloric intake to make sure I did not gain weight, but I think Organic Virgin Coconut oil kills your appetite because I've lost a couple pounds.

Hurray for this website!!! I have been bothered by "Dry Eyes" for YEARS! Yesterday I happened upon your oil pulling remedy and figured "oh, well, it can't hurt to try". I used the only oil I had on had which was a homemade blend I make for my skin of sweet almond and grapeseed. Within 20 minutes of using the treatment you suggested I was SHOCKED to feel relief from it. I have been using over the counter eye drops all day long everyday for years. Yesterday after your remedy I didn't use any and I still haven't used any in over 24 hours!!! Thank you!!! Talk about FAST RELIEF!! I am thrilled!

I have suffered from mildly dry eyes for years. I recently started wearing contact lenses (after years w/o them) and found it nearly impossible to remove them. Eyedrops did not help at all. My eye dr. also did a test for dryness and said my eyes were not too dry for contacts... Well, I was practically scratching my eyes out every night trying to remove them. It was horribly painful. Incidentally, I tried taking one fish oil pill/day for another ailment and, bingo! --My dry eye disappeared in one day. My contacts have come out normally every day since. Flax oil pills also work, but I prefer fish oil. (p.s. Consuming coconut oil & oil pulling w/ coconut oil did nothing for dry eyes, in case you were wondering about the possibility of this)

This is just a word of caution I would like to add here just in case you encounter this problem I went to my ophthalmologist. I had an on-going dry eye problem last week and I went to the doctor and they wanted to plug the other two tear ducts plus another round of medication. I declined. Anyhow I told the doctor that I was putting sterilized distilled water in my eyes at night since I'm allergic to practically every eye drop. Anyhow, she warned me to STOP IT right away even though the water is sterilized she said the water could be carrying Acanthoamoeba and she checked my eyes to see I had it and I did not! Apparently "there is a water and soil-born parasite Acanthamoeba is more prevalent than most ophthalmologists think. "Amoeba are very common organisms, they are all over the globe, in fact they're one of the original life forms" drug don't work against the parasite so the problem persists and if it goes untreated, patients can lose their eyesight. "This is a kind of amoeba that has the characteristic of forming a cyst or shell around it so it can hide from predators or destruction, and can be very difficult to kill. "

The amoeba is extremely difficult to identify, but according to researchers doctors have the best chance at diagnosing the amoeba as the source of an eye infection " Anyhow I wanted to post this just in case.

The following keeps my eyes feeling good after having been dry for 10+ years:

TMG (Trimethyl glycine)
Sinus rinse with three drops of emulsified vitamin A (along with the salt and baking soda)
Dextrose (no other form of sugar)
Castile soap, fragrance-free for shampoo and everything (regular soaps irritate my eyes)

The following make my eyes feel worse:

Straight Sugar and foods with it (all other forms other than dextrose... however, a certain clear soda would temporarily make my eyes better)
Diets too low in starchy foods, such as G.A.P.S. (starches are needed to convert to glucose)

Re dry, salty tasting mouth.
Two things spring to mind
Homeopathic remedy Nat mur often helps with: Fluid imbalances. Anaemia, crack in lower lip, palpitations, warts on palms.... see Homeopathyplus.com

Also in TCM
(Traditional Chinese medicine) such a taste would indicate deficient Kidney, spleen, heart energy.

Perhaps worth consulting acupuncturist/ practitioner of TCM.

Mama to Many,

I have been taking the Stinging Nettle and Oil Pulling with Coconut oil for about a week, and I am excited to tell you that the Post Nasal leak has all come to a complete halt.

I don't have to keep gum and candy in my mouth anymore to hide the taste of the drip. I don't wake up with a mouth full of spit and mucus. Thank you for sharing your wisdom.

HisJewel

The stress hormone cortisol drains the body and body stops bile production under stress. See:

Causes of Dry Eyes Explained by Dr. Berg - YouTube

He says there's no bile to absorb vitamin A for eye health. I take ox bile most days.

Castor oil is amazing and I use it myself in most crisis situations I encounter....

My dry red eyes are 100% cured! I have a pinguculae in each eye too which have significantly reduced in size and are becoming paler. The blood vessels in my eyes are pale pink now instead of being big red and angry looking.

In just two days of eating 1 pakistani fresh ripe mango in the morning an hour before eating any other food and 1 mango in the evening my dry eyes are completely relieved. This is a miracle!

Mangos from the indian subcontinent are very high in nutrition. I am going to do this every day during mango season. I eat other fruits as well but mangos made the biggest difference. When mango season is over I will keep eating a large amount of juicy fruits (a large amount of oranges, kiwis, melon, seeded grapes, cherries, etc). My body must have been severely lacking nutrition.

It has been exactly one week since I started eating two larges Pakistani mangos a day. I can see a lovely healthy shiny tear film over my eye. The change has been so drastic. I can't stop looking at my eyes. I used to hate looking at them, but now they are beautiful! :)

I tried other things too before I upped my fruit intake (apple cider vinegar eye drops, castor oil eye drops, etc). These were treating the symptom, not the cause. The cause was I wasn't eating the amount of fruit my body needed!

I can't tell you how happy I am. This has made such a positive difference to my life.

Please, please increase your fruit intake. In one day have the equivalent of two large oranges, 10 cherries, 10 seeded grapes, a quarter of pineapple, 2 kiwis. It sounds like a lot of fruit to eat every day but this is the amount of fruit we NEED to be eating every day.

My skin is also more moisturised, I dont need to apply oil to it after a shower anymore like I have had to for the last 25 years!

Honestly, this is nothing short of a miracle!

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

I have suffered from dry eyes with itchy eyelids and goop forming in my eyes for over two years and was prescribed various eye drops from my VA Dr's to keep my eyes lubed, "treat the symptoms and not the problem" is the way Dr's do medicine today. Finally, I went to a older OP Dr who told me that my dry eye was called Blepharitis (blef-uh-RI-tis) and commonly occurs when tiny oil glands located near the base of the eyelashes malfunction and clog. This leads to inflamed, irritated and itchy eyelids. Several diseases and conditions can cause blepharitis but in my case it was caused by microscopic mite, partying in my oil glands and clogging up the lubricating process.

He prescribed a new essential oil towlet that contained Tea Tree Oil with other compounded to whip my eyes with 2x/daily, but after 2 weeks of use, my eyes looked sunk into my head and the chemicals in the towlets dried up my eyes so back that I didn't finish the 30 day supply.

Now to how I cured myself. I beleive in the healing properties of plants and hit the research books to which plant oils are safe for use around the eyes. What I came up with is Frankincense and Lemon oil. Here is my recipe:

*one teaspoon coconut oil

*10 drops frankincense oil - properties as an antiseptic, disinfectant, astringent.

*10 drops lemon oil - properties are anti-infection, astringent, antiseptic, disinfectant.

Both oils are used in womens beauty creams so dont be scared of using them. (NEVER put essential oils in eyes! )

Mix until uniformed in a small glass or ceramic dipping bowl.

Using your clean finger apply mixture around your eye (but not in it) cover top and lower skin of your eyelids. Then around the eye socket, over nose bridge and down your nose and over your eye brows. Do this at night before bed for 14 days. Cured and I must say my eyesight is much sharper today. Ca'nt explain that one.

I been awakening to dry, bloodshot eyes so I was very concerned with how my eye was looking... it wasn't good, so I looked up some natural remedies and this was it just what I needed, castor. so very happy thanks so very much. keep up the great work, k .

I felt instant relief, back to normal. I feel I don't even have eyeballs.

Hello Heather,

Thank you for commenting on the Dry Eye method.

Pretty simple. I used to spend a lot of money on eye drops. It's now been four or five years since I've had to buy drops. I just use the Baking Soda on closed eyelids...dry off with a tissue and re apply. In my case I have diagnosed dry eye by an ophthalmologist. But the real agitator is the acidic condition of the body. Anytime I get too much acid producing foods, there comes the agitation. The acid on dry eye...ouch. So the Soda neutralizes the acid in the eye and I drink the rest to help alkalize in the body.

Please let us know how it works for you.