Top Natural Remedies for Dry Eyes - Internal and External Applications

I use just"Plain"Chamomile/no honey or other additives for my dry eyes, and I drink Apple Cider Vinegar daily, it's great.

For some reason my eyes have been getting very dry. It all started after the plane trees near our house shed a lot of cotton wool like stuff last year. My husband has problems too. As I wear contact lenses I got very worried and reading about Castor oil for dry eyes on this site I decided to try. The only thing it did was to make my eyes swollen. As we were leaving on a trip I went to the Eye Hospital and the doctor told me that the tear ducts were blocked. The liquid tears were still coming out but no fat. Now I have to put warm black tea bags on my eyes twice a day and then squeeze them a bit all around for the fat to come out. They are better now but still try. I have read about the Manuka Honey but I have to confess that I am afraid to try. By the way, the Castor Oil I used comes from a health food store and as it has a pump is not really in contact with the air. I only put a little bit on the riem of the eye twice a day for a few days.

How often do you have to go? Every week? Os was it a cure?

Hi Cat, did you have conjunctivitis or pink eye before taking Coconut oil? I'm struggling with pink eye because of demodex mites in my lashes (very hard to get rid of) so I got mild blepharitis, conjunctivitis and dry eye. Had this for about 3 years now. If that coconut old made your whites look better - I need that stuff too! I've started taking sea-buckthorn oil 1 tbsp 2x but no visible change after about a week. I also put a homemade 20% tea tree oil ointment based on petroleum jelly castor oil sea-buckthorn oil. Still get very pink eye in the morning probably because of inflammation from the ointment. It gets a bit better during the day though. Any advice appreciated.

I'm fourty and I've been a vegetarian for 30 years
(I'm female 5'6 107 Indian/Indus valley AB and my period are every 22 days ) I've been suffering from dry eyes, thirst, and itchy skin ( there was a time when I couldn't even stand the sheets on my body. The doctor said that it was a bad winter. I recently started taking 10000 Mcg B-12 and I have noticed a dramatic decrease in itching! Prior to that I had to wear a serious oinment 2x a day morning /night, I also get acne monthly usually on my chin and menstrual migraines accompanied with vomiting and nausea so I usually at least drink juice during this time to keep some energy. Anyhow this started 6 months ago. The tests taken for diabetes, sojgrens, auto immune and liver diesease all have been negative. I was diagnosed with anemia, so I'm taking iron and drinking chlorophyll drink. I think I'm perimenopausal. The popular eye drop prescribed burned by eyes badly due to the preservatives. Even the chemical used at the opthamologist office burns my eyes and make them sore for a few days. I can use natural eye drops preservative free drops seem okay but it makes my eyes seem drier later in the day. My doctor suggested the tear punctual plugs in my lower tear ducts, tried it and it did not help. I just recently increased flaxseed oil cold pressed to three tablesoons a day and I do warm compresses on my eyes for some relief. The doctor suggested an eye gel with petroleum mineral oil for nights that only irritated my eyes and caused them to swell. But I have now run out of idea... I feel desperate because I'm aware of the dryness, and that scratchy gritty feeling and the eye discomfort wakes me up at night.

Try using castor oil in your eyes. I know it sounds a bit weird, but it is very soothing. I will use it at night after wearing contact lenses all day. It is very comforting and healing. Just a drop or two is all you need. You can buy it at drug stores or about anywhere. Best wishes to you.

Cat: You didn't say if you tried any or all of the remedies here? Http://www.earthclinic.com/cures/dry_eyes.html
Try the cheapest and likely quickest acting first. That would be the castor oil and the Lugols. Tears from the lacrimal ducts have 3 components--an aqueous, a mucus, and a lipid (fatty acid). So the aqueous is the immediate wetter, but the lipid and mucus are to prevent the surface from drying out in exposure of more than a few seconds.

Jhol, Did your eyes happen to burn when you put your contacts in the next day? I am using castor oil on my frown lines and got it in my eye when I massaged it in. It was ok but when I put my contacts in the next morning.. Yoweee, it burned! Only lasted a minute or two.. I was just curious.

To Cat from Lax - Are you still putting the castor oil on your lids or did you stop doing that? Which supplements are you still taking and which did you stop because they were unnecessary, if any? In other words what seems to be the thing or combination that cured your dry eyes? How long did you do each thing before noticing results? Thanks!

Kat, regarding your intense itching, if you are using hair conditioner with behentrimonium methosulfate and/or cetearyl alcohol, that may be the culprit. Both are considered harmless, but I developed a reaction to them (not sure which one because they are often a combined ingredient in formulations) and would itch so badly and have the feeling of tiny bugs crawling all over me - especially my legs. This went on for about 2 years, and I only discovered the culprit by accident. I am a visitor on this website and may not return, but I hope this will help you and anyone else. That feeling of something crawling all over you and the intense itching can make you feel like you're going crazy, and it doesn't help that it interferes greatly with sleep. By the way, my symptoms started when I was 40, and I discovered the source as I said by accident at 42. Best of luck to you!

This is a comment about dry eyes, not vitamin B12.

I hope any of you who are thinking about drinking a salt or baking soda and water mixture for dry eyes will check thier blood pressure first. Never a good idea to add more salt to your diet on a regular basis.

Thanks Elsie (from Perth)! I've been using a drop or two of organic castor oil (from the health food store) in my incredibly dry eyes and this is the first time in years that I haven't had problems removing my hard/gas permeable contact lenses. I usually put a couple of drops in each eye right before bed. Most of it runs out of my eye but, because it's so viscous, it tends to coat the eyeball. My whites aren't whiter yet but I'm hoping they'll be soon. In the meantime, I'm enjoying not having the dry, scratchy and gritty feeling I've had to put up with for so long. Thanks again!

Can you use the castor oil that you buy at walgreens?

To Elise from Perth and anyone with the expertise; Just like you I have struggled with dry eyes for a long time I can't wear contact lenses period and my condition seems to be getting worse, my ophtalmologist put me on Restasis, I've tried oil pulling, take omega3 2000mg, warm compresses you name it... And nothing seems to work. Last night I bought a bottle of pure, cold pressed, top quality Castor oil from the organic store, it says on the bottle that is good for the skin and perfect for health promoting packs, it is hexane free & certified (I don't have a clue what that is??) it came without any kind of wrap around plastic or quality seal inside or outside the bottle all you got to do is twist the cap to open it, so I'm hesitant to try it in my dry eyes, I may sound paranoic but someone could've easily mess with the content inside the bottle, Anyways, my question here is should I expect to see a sealed bottle? and did I buy the right kind? please help, I really need to try this asap. Thanks.

Hi Katsu, I am no expert on this but because my eyes are becoming very dry and I have difficulties with my contact lenses I tried the put Castor Oil in my eyes. I started putting it on my eyelids as it also seemed to make you sleep better but the only thing it did was to make my eyes look swollen and strange. After awhile I tried to put a bit on the eye rim and they only got worse, quite red and swollen. I went to the Eye Hospital and the doctor told me that the tear ducts were blocked. Did it happen because of the Castor Oil, were they blocked before, I don't know. Anyway, I got some drops to wet the eyes and have to put warm black tea bags on them twice a day and do some massage to make the grease component of the tears come out. They were better and looking quite normal but yesterday I decided to put a bit of CO on my eyebrows, it ran into my eyes and the troubles have started all over again so I won't do it again or else I will put very little just on my eyebrows.

I use a cold pressed CO bought in a health food shop which has a pump so the oil is not in contact with the air. Before that I used another one and the result was the same. Maybe I am allergic to CO or maybe you shouldn't put it in your eyes, no idea. I am afraid of trying the Manuka Honey although some people seem to have had good results with that. I am also going to try either MSM drops or CanC drops. I don't want to give up my contact lenses.......

Hi Katsu - I'm one of the people who has had success with castor oil in my eyes. My eyes were very dry since I moved from the moist, wet West Coast (Vancouver) to dry, windy and cold Calgary. The first year here I could not wear my contacts. I tried tons of eye drops, compresses, palming (hands over eyes), fish oil, flaxseed oil, etc. The eye doctor just shrugged his shoulders and said that I had to live with it and it's very common.

I use organic castor oil and I've put it in an eyedrop bottle. Every night, right before I'm ready to go to sleep, I add a few drops in each eye (I blink and roll my eyes a bit). The pillowcase gets oil stains on it but that's a small price to pay. I've been doing this for about two years now and I can wear my contacts with no problems. I also drink ACV in water (3 TB in 1-1/2 litres of water). I don't know if that makes a difference. The castor oil I use is imported from India (bottled in Canada). The importing company is Innov'Import from Montreal. It says it's cold pressed and hexane free. It's in a glass bottle and had a plastic sleeve over the cap so no tampering there. However, I did notice today when I went to the health food store, that all the rest of the castor oil (non-organic) were in plastic bottles and didn't have the plastic protection sleeve. Good luck with your eyes. I hope it works for you!

Absolutely agree with using your own Urine for sore eyes. Had sore and dry eyes for a couple of years. Got drops from the Doctor, would be all good while using then as soon as I stopped soreness and sometimes morning gumminess would continue, read about using Urine and gave it a whirl, fantastic and soothing. Also use it to clear stuffy nose. Just capture some mid-stream in a cup and use a cotton ball and drip in a couple of drops. Occasionaly it stings depending on what has been consumed previously but stinging goes pretty quickly. Commercial eye drops sting sometimes as well. I use urine daily now, easy and free, my eyes are no longer dry, sore or murky looking.

The Home health brand says not to put it in your eyes! How come everyone's putting it in their eyes? Any long term side effects?

I am also confused. I was wondering if I could try it for my cataract. Some people on EC reported bad results, like getting conjunctivitis. One person wrote that one should not apply castor oil to the eyes when it comes in a plastic container.

I'm putting it on my eyebrow first night -no reaction* eyelid and eyebrow second night- no reaction* eyelid eyebrow and circle around eye third night - no reaction* fourth night put some in corner of eye to get some on the eyeball- no reaction* next drop some right into the eye. Better safe than sorry . Keep trying and you will find out what works for you.

I have tried what the doctor prescribed for other issues and been suffering, so this isn't so bad

The reason they put - do not put in eye - on castor oil bottle is because the manufacturer is required to do that if they don't want to spend extra money on testing. Castor oil just feels greasy, otherwise you generally feel nothing. It's pretty safe.

Keep using this. I have had the same problem and my eyes are 100% better, I use this every night, 2 drops in each eye and put the oil under my eye lids and over my lids. This works, just give it some time.

Elise..hoping the castor oil still works for yr dry eyes? I'm in Perth as well, can u tell me what brand and where u purchased it from? Thanks.

You wrote olive oil!

I'm just wondering for those of you who have used Castor oil with success. Do you buy an eye dropper and fill it up with caster oil to place it in your eyes?

Hi Skullz - I'm one of the people who has found relief from dry eyes by using castor oil drops. I bought an empty glass eye dropper bottle from the health food store and filled it with organic castor oil (also from the health food store). Every night before I go to bed, I put a couple of drops of castor oil directly in each eye. It does get on the pillowcase but it washes out very easily. I hope it works for you too. Best wishes, Bess

Find a homepathic pharmacy - they have castor oil eyedrop that is made for the eyes.

Hien from Houston writes: 5 parts of water, 2 parts of honey and 1 part of apple cider vinegar. Do you put this in your eye or swallow it?

Re: eye drops made of distilled water, honey, and Apple cider vinegar. How long will this solution keep? How often (what intervals) is it safe to use, and over what duration of time.

Re: eye drops made of distilled water, honey, and Apple cider vinegar. How long will this solution keep? How often (what intervals) is it safe to use, and over what duration of time.

Glad you found help, I would try to ascertain why those lenses did that especially if you still use the lenses. Otherwise the problem is probably still there and one would have to wonder how long before something different pops up? I suggest this from experience and would not want to wish that on anyone. Godd luck with it all.

you might also try taking a fish oil supplement. or cod liver oil. i've read that really helps with this.

I read on the site about people oil pulling related to their dry eyes. What exactly is oil pulling. I really need some help. Thanks

EC: A fast and easy way to find information is to type "Oil Pulling" into our search box!

https://www.earthclinic.com/remedies/oil_pulling.html