Dry eye remedy?

[sunflower]

Has anyone tried this?  I ran across it in an online cancer forum.  Thoughts?

"Dry eye remedy - probably one tenth of a penny a day is as simple as getting a glass eyedropper and take some organic Hexane- free, cold-pressed castor oil in a glass container and put some on your finger. Jam some into the inside corner where you should have a duct plug inserted first from an eye doc. Then for me it's been as easy as rubbing some on the rim of your eyes then on the upper eyelid and it takes me right through the night and most of the following day."

[DarleneB]

I typed  out my reply and posted it..but poof  it was gone..I will try again.i have been using this as an eyelid rub since April.  I have hashimoto thyroiditis...my eyelashes are half the length and had a horrible funny curl towards my nose...looked so weird.  I read it helped with the lid inflammation and helps with hair regrowth. I do not put the castor oil in my eye as a drop.  I have plugs and use restasis and in my drier eye my doctor has me also use sodium chloride ophthalmic 5% half inch in the right eye at night.  I have noticed the eyelid inflammation is gone and my eyelashes are a tiny bit longer. .and the abnormal  curl is gone...

[susanep]

I know I could use something else. I use the Restasis, and the Systane, and have plugs in my eyes, but they still get so dry. I am so glad this is helping you. Sometimes I have added using one of the eye night thick gels to rub in them a bit for extra lubrication.

Hugs,
susanep

[DarleneB]

My last shirmers test was a #3 on left eye and a #1on the right eye. I go in to eye doctor.about every 6 months for a scratch on the cornea...due to waking up with left eye stuck open. The doctor said I have chronic corneal abrasions on that eye...  I found that any of the over the counter drops that have poly ethylene glycol make the eye gooey and sticky and cause the eye to eventually stick open at night.  That stuff belongs in your car radiators. ..it is antifreeze. What is it doing in our eye drops. ...I will write more later today.. what she said..very interesting things about dry eyes..I eed to get busy on housework

[sunflower]

I haven't tried this remedy myself.  The idea of castor oil in my eyes is off-putting for me so I wondered if anyone else had been brave enough to try it.

I have punctal plugs and couldn't be without them.  So far Systane drops are adequate as long as I stay hydrated.  Getting a lot of liquid first thing in the morning makes a big difference for me.

[araminta]

Yes sunflower I use organic castor oil in my eyes at night.   I started using it when my local pharmacy ran out of Lacrilube and I honestly don't notice any difference between the two, they both seem fine.   I just use a drop or so in each eye.   I tried using it in the day but it is a bit smeary. 

For the daytime I now have a prescription for Hylotear - it's better than the drops with preservatives in them, but my eyes always end up sore at the end of the day.   Thankfully I'm seeing an ophthalmologist later this month.

[DarleneB]

I was going to finish my story..my eye doctor said with the eye that has a shirmers of #1..it has chronic corneal tears..she said that the cells in the cornea instead of being a close matrix of cells my cells are apart and not touching each other.  After using antibiotic drops for a week and then steroid drops for 2 weeks she wanted me to continue the artifical drops prn. And restasis 2 times a day. And then at night to use the hypertonic sodium chloride 5% ointment in that eye only 1/2 inch  to affected eye. The hypertonic property of the ointment will pull water out of the cells to pull the cells back togther..she will recheck in 6 months

[felpeyu2]

Hello. I had a big problem with my eyes several years ago. It happens during the nights. My corneas sticked to the eyelids and I could not do anything in order to avoid having a terrible pain in the eyes and later I will have blurred vision that lasted all day. I have Epithelial basement membrane dystrophy (EBMD), also known as map-dot-fingerprint dystrophy (it sounds like DarleneB issue), and I think this was the cause of the pain (it was like something broke inside my eyes).

The schimer tests always say I have no problem with tears amount, so I think my problem was the quality of the tears, that have several layers, one of them oily.

During that time I tried gels (lacrilube ointment) but did not work. I improved using normal eye drops all the day (I did not do it because my problems were during the nights) and avoiding all my allergies medicines.

My point is that each person is a differente world and sometimes you have to try this thing or this other in order to find something suitable for the problem at hand. I think that this oil can be useful for centain people, we can not for forget the importance of the meibomian glands that produce an oily substance that prevents evaporation of the eye's tear film.