im using raw honey and im feel better

[Britta]

Day 7 on honey

I am still using my handmade honey drops and feel even better than two days ago. I am off the artificial tears, which made me feel like a junkie: short-term relief replaced by ever more vicious rebounds of dryness.
I think, I suffer from ocular rosacea (occasionally flushing cheeks with red wine, chocolate and cold; I have an appointment with a specialist to have this confirmed) and the manuka honey seems to bring down the inflammation of my M. glands (tiny red spots on my lid margins).
This might be a mere coincidence or powerful wishful thinking and I think those of you, who have been around for some time, have seen many an instantaneous remedy come and go. Anyway, for the time being I am enyoing my renewed wellbeing and am still thankful to Regina for drawing my attention to the healing potential of honey.
Those of you tempted by the idea to give honey/manuka a try, should follow Stella`s advice and dilute the honey thoroughly. If your eyes put up with that you can carefully increase the honey percentage.

[rukapuka]

Hey!
I'm living in Egypt and my doctor suggested that I use raw honey..He really supported the idea because some other dry eye patient used it and his eyes got way better.
But unfortunately it really stung me when I used it..then it inflamed my eyes like hell and had to go on local steroids for a while. But my doctor still assures that it helped other people. I used to put saline on them (half and half).
It sounded too stupid when he first told me about it, but I felt like I'm tearing after using it, I wouldn't need eye lubricants for couple of hours later..If it didn't get my eyes inflamed I would've used them! Just make sure the honey is natural and clean.

[regina]

well thank gosh honey didnt hurt you!

I feel awful for the people who had an issue...im still using honey...my eyes get immediate relief....but just the eye lid margins which let my oil glands work for the first time in a couple of years. I still have dry eye...so i still have issues to tackle...its funny...now that my lids dont sting...I am feeling the sting of dry eyeballs for the first time...oye vey...god this gets old.

Im thinking it may work and not hurt me because I am a rare person with no allergies...or reactions to anything. So maybe that is the difference with some people..again I apologize for steering some people wrong...the last thing I would want in this world is to make someones eyes feel worse than we have already suffered! Big hugs to all

I'm no expert on the properties of honey, but apparently when honey comes in contact with skin or body fluids it releases small amounts of hydrogen peroxide...

[Britta]

I`m giving it a try

I have also bought a tube of medical honey (manuka) and made eyedrops from it (one part boiled water/one part honey). They sting a bit and my eyes get quite red for about one hour. However, five days into this experiment I am beginning to feel a difference. Today for the first time in six months I didnīt use any artificial tears at all. I forgot about my eyes for more than one hour at a stretch! It`s now 9pm here in Germany and usually at that time of day I can barely keep my eyes open, tonight I feel great. I am immensely grateful to Regina on the other side of the globe.

[stella]

I have just tried honey - after reading this post I googled "honey for treating eye disease" (I am useless at giving the direct link)

THis article sugests a DILUTED form -1 part honey to 4 parts distilled or boiled water (I used sterile normal saline from the pharmacy) and boiled a small plastic container with a lid ,I mixed the stuff in this and have it refrigerated

You use a dropper (I used an ear dropper which I boiled)and drop it into your eyes
They suggest a gradual increase in both strength and frequency of drops as tolerated

I only used it a couple of times in one eye
I cant say it made any difference and I cant say it stung or hurt either

I have had a bit of a flare -up this last couple of weeks
Thats why I decided to try ,otherwise I would " let well alone " as they say

I probably did'nt give it enough of a chance

It was Manuka honey I used

[regina]

omg i feel awful for you all

Thats weird...you dont put the honey in your eye...just on the lids...but if you still did that...and you turned out worse...I am so sorry. It doesnt have that effect on me at all...its very soothing...so weird. Again sorry for having a bad reaction

[soxboy]

I tried this out on Monday night when I went to bed. I woke up with the most blood shot eyes I ever had. It lasted until today (Friday) and Visine did very little to help the situation. They were swollen and bright red for 3-4 days. Proceed with caution.

[peepers]

My eyelids aren't inflammed but the whites of my eyes are.Does anyone think honey might help if i put it in the lid margins? Is it worth a shot as i've tried everything & my eyes are constantly red

This is a good thread. I'm glad to see people experimenting with new things. that's how discoveries are made. I've read extensively about Raw honey used in wound healing. according to studies, it speeds wound healing. Raw unfiltered honey actually has Hydrogen Peroxide in it, a powerful antimicrobial compound. It's basically highly reactive oxygen.. in wounds it keeps microbes away, speeding healing time, and also reduces scaring... They've also seen White sugar mixed with something else, put on wounds, somehow it increases the ammount of white blood cells, which are the immune cells at the sight of the wound...interesting stuff..that's for sure, it like stimulates the immune system somehow, they didn't know why that was however..

Raw unfiltered honey would probably be best used in this situation i think.

rhad

[Gretchen]

What a cool thread.

Regina - so glad for you.

I remember at some point reading a study where they used honey for dry eye and got good results. I am too lazy to search for it now...I think it was a german study?

As we all know by now, because there is no big honey conglomerate funding honey - dry eye studies, it is up to us to experiment, cautiously and wisely however, with alternative treatments. Thanks for taking the honey plunge on this one Regina. Has anyone else found that this works?

Thanks,
Gretchen

[regina]

honey and allergies

I have been tested for allergies and I have none...honey also has a anti inflamatory and healing properties. After reading about honey i have started my child on honey for her allergies! What the heck...it cant hurt.

Honey seems to reduce my inflamation on my lids...and lets my oil glands work for the first time in years....

I could be the only one that this works for ...but im sure there could be others and that is why i keep posting this...I would love one other person with stinging lids to try this...and tell me whether it helped them or not...someone try this for their stinging lids...and get back to me...please! Im trying to help here...like I said I cant possibly be the only one!

[spmcc]

I might not be remembering this correctly but... don't some people take honey for allergies? You have to use your local honey. The benefit has to do with honey containing all the local pollens and allergens collected by bees and concentrated in honey. I think you can even just buy the "honey allergens" alone. It's like having allergy shots.

So, it might be that your eyes are suffering from allergies.

[regina]

doc joked I should win the nobel peace prize...haha

Just got back from the eye doctor...I told him about using honey on my eye lid margins...He shook his head and laughed...but he took a look at my eye under the slit lamp...and said WOW..your eye lids are smooth and not inflamed...and just lightly pushing them brought up oil...didnt have to squeeze or nothing! He was more than surprised and said "who woulda thunk?" haha...

so Now we will work on getting the edema out of my cornea...and work on the redness. he gave me some allergy drops for it and so I am going to test those for a week....

The pain is gone...happy days!

[regina]

tomorrow will be a week since starting the honey on my eye lid margins...I am still pain free on my lids as long as i continue using the honey...and my oil glands are actually working after two years...no more plugging up daily! Showing my eye doc today..Going to have him expressed my glands like he does weekly for me...but hopefully going to show him...they are all open!