Natural Remedies for Puffy Eyes, Cataracts and Conjunctivitis

Your eyes can get puffy from crying, but puffiness can also be a sign of a food allergy, sinus problems, weak kidneys, sulfites in wine, alcohol consumption, excess sugar or fat consumption, and exhaustion. If your eyes are red, itchy, burning, and begging for attention, give them some genuine nurturing rather than using synthetic eye drops, which provide only temporary relief and can lead to more irritation later.

Apply cooling and anti-inflammatory slices of raw peeled potato (red ones are best, according to traditional folklore), apple, cucumber, melon, or tofu over each eye.

To make an eyewash for puffy eyes, bring 1 cup (235 ml) of distilled water to a boil and remove from heat. Add 1 heaping teaspoon (5 g) of herb such as cornflower, eyebright, and or fennel seed and allow to steep while covered for 15 minutes. Strain through a coffee filter. When the tea is cool, place into a clean eyecup and gently apply and bathe the eyes several times daily. Make fresh daily and refrigerate any unused portion to avoid introducing any bacteria into the eye. If you do use an eyewash or eyedrops, close your eyes for a couple of minutes to retain the benefits of the remedy.

To make a compress to reduce puffiness in the under-eye area, make a tea of chamomile, cornflower, elderflower, eyebright, marshmallow root, peppermint, and/or black tea, strain, and chill. Soak a small clean cloth in the chilled brew and lie down and relax with the compress over your eyes. Black tea bags, which have been used to make tea, can be set aside to cool and applied later. Also helpful for sore eyes is to soak cotton balls in cool milk and apply over closed eyes.

An exercise for puffy eyes is to squeeze both eyes shut tight. Looking inwards, draw the lids inward toward the nose without using your hands, just the muscles in the corners of the eyes. Keep the eyes relaxed and then move the eyelids outward. Hold for three seconds. Repeat seven times. This exercise works quickly. Start by doing it every night for ten nights and then reduce the frequency to three times a week.

• Sleep on your back, as sleeping on your side causes creases in your face, leading to permanent lines. Using two pillows to elevate your head keeps fluids from pooling around the eyes. Puffy eyes could also be related to allergies to the bedding, such as a down pillow or comforter.
• Beware of heavily chlorinated pools or swimming in unclean water, which can cause eye infections or irritations. Wear watertight goggles if necessary.

Cataracts are a degenerative condition that result in visual cloudiness or opacity in the lenses of the eyes. Cataracts develop from the slow deterioration of the lens’s protein, often caused by oxidation, and can cause gradual vision loss.

The conjunctiva is a thin protective tissue over the sclera (white) of the eye. When it is inflamed, it is commonly known as pinkeye. Causes can include allergies, overexposure to the elements, viewing overly bright objects (such as electric welding) with the naked eye, bacteria, virus, “burn out” (adrenal exhaustion), as well as foreign objects such as dust and pollution. Conjunctivitis is highly contagious and can be spread through washcloths, towels, and fingers, so keep them clean and separate from others. Here’s what else can help.

Eating cooling cucumbers and mung beans is also helpful if you have conjunctivitis. Take cooling anti-inflammatory herbs, such as burdock, chickweed, Echinacea, and red clover blossom, in tea, tincture, or capsule form three times daily. A probiotic supplement taken three times daily between meals helps inhibit unfriendly microorganisms that may be contributing factors in the infection.

Cheap sunglasses filter only some rays and may allow harmful rays to penetrate. The best sunglasses are gray, green, then brown in that order.

Splash cold water over your eyes several times a day to improve circulation. Ahhhh!