Frances (London, United Kingdom) on 07/05/2013

I'm a 23 year old female suffering from bad hay fever, under a lot of stress recently following 8 months of job hunting and family issues. These past few weeks I have had a very poor diet with a high sugar intake and lots of caffeine. I was rubbing my eyes a lot to relieve the itchiness of the hay fever. Last week, I woke up feeling like my upper eyelid on my left eye had been punched in the night and now bruised: looking in the mirror, the eyelid was swollen to twice the size of the other eye, and was red in colour. The whole eyelid up to the browbone was extremely painful when I touched it, and a definite lump was forming under the eyelid. Also, the eye would only open half way. With a big job interview coming up and my birthday a few days away, my heart sank.

I waited for 4 hours to see the Eye Specialist in the local Eye Clinic, who said I had a chalazion and that they would surgically remove it by incision after 2 weeks, and that I should "put hot water on it" in the meantime (he refused to elaborate). I was prescribed eyedrops containing 1% chloramphenicol and instructed to use once daily for the next fortnight. Looking online, I was very disinclined to have surgery, as I am very squeamish and also, many people reported having further chalazions as little as weeks after the op. Days passed, and the swelling got redder and larger.

I read up about chalazions thoroughly online and especially on Earth Clinic, and decided a lifestyle change was in order. After readings hundreds of testimonials, I decided that apple cider vinegar was the most likely option.

Here was my regimen:

1. I bought a bottle of organic apple cider vinegar, making sure to find one 'with the mother' as this is said to be the most effective sort.

2. I put 2 tsp apple cider vinegar in cup (100ml) of very hot (near boiling) water, and used cotton wool to soak a little up. I then held it against my eye for a good minute or two, before gently moving the pad down away from the nose. I did this 3 times a day that week.

3. Later in the day, I would use green and black tea bags as hot compresses, and these seemed to help the swelling. I did this 3 times a day also.

4. Also, I started drinking 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar in a pint of warm water twice a day.

5. I completely cut out sugar, alcohol and fast food.

This regimen completely CURED my chalazion in the space of 5 days - I woke up on the 3rd day with a small amount of yellow gunk holding my eye shut, but it easily washed away and my eye looked better. Each day for 4 days I would find this gunk in my eyelashes, and would wash it away to reveal my eyelid becoming less and less irritated and red. Success!

Slowly and surely, sticking to the above regimen, my eye got better and I didn't need the horrible surgery. I would say that putting apple cider vinegar on a HOT water covered cotton pad was doubly effective, as it sped up the healing process. I have continued to drink the Apple Cider Vinegar since then, and am a sworn Apple Cider Vinegar fan ever since.