Home Remedies for Dry Eyes

Spices 2

Suffering from dry eyes? Get relief with these natural dry eye remedies that are as close as the spice aisle or produce section of your grocery store. Some might already be in your pantry!

Our friends at All About Dry Eye offer up these top home remedies for dry eyes worth investigating.

Spices to Help Cure Dry & Itchy Eyes

Tumeric

Often known as curcumin, the Asian spice turmeric is said to be a protective agent against a number of diseases, including dry eye.

Try out this quick recipe that spotlights turmeric:

  1. Warm a little almond milk
  2. Sprinkle a teaspoon of turmeric
  3. Add ½ tsp cinnamon and 1/8 tsp cloves
  4. Add a dollop of raw honey
  5. Whisk together
Paprika

Known for its extremely high concentration of vitamin A - which helps ward off dry eye - paprika is a very versatile ingredient. Consider adding paprika to your next recipe to boost flavor and add nutrition. Sprinkled it on eggs, chicken, potato salads and many more dishes.

Bilberry

Bilbery is a shrub that’s closely related to the blueberry and is known for its health benefits, including protection against retinal diseases and macular degeneration. Bilberry also is great for itchy or dry eyes. Bilberry extract can help improve your oxygen supply, boost blood circulation and improve tear gland functions. With their added dose of vitamin P and citrin, bilberry helps decrease swelling and inflammation within the body, which is often a common trigger of dry eyes. Try bilberry in a supplement form, or drink it in a tea made form bilberry leaves. Easy, though. It’s recommended that you ingest no more than 220mg of bilberry on a daily basis.

Mint

Don’t run those stinging or itchy eyes. Instead, wash your eyes out with spearmint.

To make a spearmint eye wash:

  1. Boil about a dozen spearmint leaves in water
  2. Let the solution cool about 20 minutes
  3. Apply with a clean washcloth

The active ingredient in spearmint is menthol, which helps stimulate tear production. It also smells great!

Chamomile

Often drunk in tea form by those looking to relax, chamomile also features anti-inflammatory properties that can soothe tired eyes and restore moisture.

See also: include thyme, fennel, marigold and calendula, which are all purported to be dry eye relievers. As always, check with your doctor before using new spices or herbal dry eye remedies.

For more information on Dry Eyes visit AllaboutDryeye.com

References

1. Packer M. The Implantable Collamer Lens with a central port: review of the literature. Clin Ophthalmol. 2018;12:2427-2438.

2. Martínez-Plaza E, López-Miguel A, López-de la Rosa A, et al. Effect of the EVO+ Visian Phakic Implantable Collamer Lens on Visual Performance and Quality of Vision and Life, Am J Ophthalmol 2021;226:117-125.

3. Packer M. Evaluation of the EVO/EVO+ Sphere and Toric Visian ICL: Six month results from the United States Food and Drug Administration clinical trial. Clinical Ophthalmology. 2022;16:1541-53.

4. Parkhurst GD. A prospective comparison of phakic collamer lenses and wavefront-optimized laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis for correction of myopia. Clin Ophthalmol. 2016;10:1209-1215.

5. Ganesh S, Brar S, Pawar A. Matched population comparison of visual outcomes and patient satisfaction between 3 modalities for the correction of low to moderate myopic astigmatism. Clin Ophthalmol. 2017;11:1253-1263.

6. Naves J.S, Carracedo G, Cacho-Babillo I, Diadenosine nucleotid measurements as dry-eye score in patients after LASIK and ICL surgery. Presented at American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS) 2012.

7. Shoja, MR. Besharati, MR. Dry eye after LASIK for myopia: Incidence and risk factors. European Journal of Ophthalmology. 2007; 17(1): pp. 1-6.

8. Lee, Jae Bum et al. Comparison of tear secretion and tear film instability after photorefractive keratectomy and laser in situ keratomileusis. Journal of Cataract & Refractive Surgery , Volume 26 , Issue 9 , 1326 - 1331.

9. Parkhurst, G. Psolka, M. Kezirian, G. Phakic intraocular lens implantantion in United States military warfighters: A retrospective analysis of early clinical outcomes of the Visian ICL. J Refract Surg. 2011;27(7):473-481.

*American Refractive Surgery Council

We get it. Decisions like this take time to consider and research. We can help guide your decision with information that's the most relevant to you.

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