Natural cure for blepharitis?

[Danny_]

Has anyone tried castor oil? The person at this website:

http://www.hull.ac.uk/php/cssmv/Medi...epharitis.html

says that it works. I am not sure how it works but it seems that you just put it on your eyelids?

[Danny_]

Well, I decided to be the guinee pig. I have started putting castor oil on my eyes. I will keep you updated of my progress but so far am very excited at the results I have been getting. I have had many false dawns before though so I will wait and give it a few weeks before I say anything. I am using castor oil that is supposed to be used for constipation or so it says on the label. You can get it at Walgreens for about $3.50.

[GeorgeT]

Hi Danny,
How do you feel when put the drops in?
Good Luck!!!

George

[Danny_]

George,

I amn't putting drops in. I am applying Castor oil directly to my eye lids. So far, it has caused redness and inflammation around my eyes but my eyes feel a lot less dry. I am going to stick with it for at least two weeks. It is really good to put it on before you go to sleep but the only problem is that putting it on during the day makes your eyelashs dirty. I will keep you updated.

[GeorgeT]

Hi Danny,
If you realize redness and inflammation of your eyelids it might be something related to the composition (purity) of the castor oil that you use.
Thanks for the info and good luck.

George

[Danny_]

Hi Danny,
If you realize redness and inflammation of your eyelids it might be something related to the composition (purity) of the castor oil that you use.
Thanks for the info and good luck.

George

The inflamation is chronic and existed before the castor oil was put on. The castor oil has made it worse AROUND THE EYE but not in the eye itself and I believe that it is helping IN THE EYE. It could be a situation of having to endure burning for a while until it gets better. I am giving it about two weeks anyway to see if it works.

[Randal]

The inflamation is chronic and existed before the castor oil was put on. The castor oil has made it worse AROUND THE EYE but not in the eye itself and I believe that it is helping IN THE EYE. It could be a situation of having to endure burning for a while until it gets better. I am giving it about two weeks anyway to see if it works.

Danny:

I've heard from others, and have experienced it myself, that the initial use of castor oil will cause redness around the eyes but that after a week or two, this should subside. So, your two-week trial sounds about right.

FWIW, I've used castor oil off and on and have now decided to give it the full test. Please keep us posted with your results, and I'll try to do the same, if you'd like.

Randal

[Danny_]

I stopped putting it on during the day because it makes my eyes itchy and yes, I experience the redness around the eye and burning also. If you just put it on before you go to bed, you don't get this. I have started using refresh endura (it's a castor oil based eye drop) during the day. I am going to try to get proper castor oil eye drops made for me from a compound pharmacy.

Danny

[Randal]

I stopped putting it on during the day because it makes my eyes itchy and yes, I experience the redness around the eye and burning also. If you just put it on before you go to bed, you don't get this. I have started using refresh endura (it's a castor oil based eye drop) during the day. I am going to try to get proper castor oil eye drops made for me from a compound pharmacy.

Danny

Danny:

I've used the preservative-based version of Refresh Endura. (It's called Refresh Dry Eye Therapy, if memory serves.) I don't know if it was the preservative or something else, but I found that it irritated my eyes and eyelids, but only if I used it too much. (That's what made me think it may be the preservative.)

Like you, I also am applying castor oil drops at night--not to my eyes themselves but to my eyelids. The oil will work its way into the eyes. I'm undecided about applying the drops in the morning, too. One thing I've done, though, that seems to mitigate the irritation is to apply the drops before taking a shower. The shower seems to get the drops moving more quickly off the eyelids and onto the eyes.

Randal

[Danny_]

Update:

The castor oil drops have definitely helped a lot. It's too early to say whether they'll take the pain away altogether but I am hopeful that they will. The pain is chronic so it could take a lot of time to get rid of.

[skygoddess]

Hi,
The article also mentions chamomile tea, I use the tea bags sometimes for compresses. Feels nice, and soothes my lids.