Stronger, More Resilient Eyes From Rosemary Eyewash

[Wayne]

I've noticed a pretty remarkable improvement in the way my eyes feel in the past 24 hours. As with most things, there's a story, which may give more perspective on my experience.
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I noticed this past year my eyes were having more and more difficulty with long times on the computer. Then one day a few weeks ago, they almost sort of "gave out". Couldn't be on the computer for more than a few minutes at a time before they would "revolt".

So I began to do some eyewashes again after a long hiatus. Started with John Christopher's herbal eyewash formula. With its cayenne pepper, I didn't care for it, and it seemed to dry my eyes out. I then discovered a saline solution using Himalayan salt (1 tsp per 1 pint of water). I found it to be very soothing, and began using it daily.

My eyes stabilized, but they still limited my computer time. So I kept experimenting. I began to do some basic exercises, such as rolling my eyes, and looking strenuously in different directions--to break up tight eyes muscles. I rubbed by eyes with my hands to get the area muscles to relax.

This past week I came across some directions for using castor oil in the eyes to restore moisture and suppleness to the eyes. It was supposed to improve eye vision, and help prevent cataracts. I had mixed results, with it feeling it bit soothing, but kept my vision a bit blurry for too long. Going from castor oil drops, to a single drop in my saline eyewash worked far better. I noticed some unusual twitching in my eyes for a couple days, and ended up feeling I'd made a good find with the castor oil in small amounts in saline eyewash.

I began to think of eyebright, and whether I should try to get it in bulk to take internally and as part of my eyewash. But before I took that step, I turned to Rosemary. A neighbor who works at the local COOP had a 3 pound bag available at a garage sale for $3. Apparently somebody had ordered a bulk amount, and then didn't pick it up. It was a few months old, but I decided to "splurge" and go for it, having heard it was a good herb (but didn't know for what).

I started drinking the Rosemary tea and noticed it seemed to give me a cognitive boost, and increased my mental stamina a bit. So I did a bit more research, and came across a short article on how it was also good for eyes and the brain (see short snippet from article below). So just two days ago, I began to use it in my regular eyewash. It felt really good. The saline eyewash had always felt good, but when I added the Rosemary, it was like I didn't want to take the eyewash glass away from my eyes.

I did an unusually long stint on the computer yesterday, and am doing another one today. Then all of a sudden it hit me how MUCH improved my eye strength and stamina are today. A huge leap from what it was just prior to starting with the Rosemary. So thought I'd share it here, not only because it might be helpful for eye health, but because it may also have the potential to help with ME/CFS associated cognitive problems. The therapeutic action appears to be the same for each.

Sorry if my story was too long, but sometimes a bit more perspective may be what helps somebody to decide whether to pursue just one more of the zillions of things we probably all consider doing for our health.

Best to All, Wayne.
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Rosemary's therapeutic potential

Lipton, Rezaie, Satoh and colleagues next tested carnosic acid in an animal model of light-induced damage to photoreceptors - the part of the eye that converts light to electrical signals, enabling visual perception. As compared to the untreated group, rodents pre-treated with carnosic acid retained a thicker outer nuclear layer in the eye, indicating that their photoreceptors were protected. The carnosic acid-treated rodents also exhibited better electroretinogram activity, a measure of healthy photoreceptor function.

What's next for carnosic acid? "We're now developing improved derivatives of carnosic acid and related compounds to protect the retina and other brain areas from a number of degenerative conditions, including age-related macular degeneration and various forms of dementia," said Lipton, director of Sanford-Burnham's Del E. Webb Neuroscience, Aging, and Stem Cell Research Center and an active clinical neurologist.​

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I think I'll add this short snippet on DMSO for eye health by a natural health care practitioner, which I just found this morning. I'm pretty certain I'll be giving this a try as well at some point.

I applied DMSO directly in the eyes of someone with blepharitis, an inflammatory condition of the oil glands of the eyes that creates an affliction known as dry eyes, which is generally considered chronic. This condition was cleared up in a few days after struggling with it for two years.

I had found that doctors have been treating eye conditions such as retinitis pigmentosa (macular degeneration) with 40% DMSO for forty years, in some cases improving vision from 20/200 to 20/100 in two weeks, and even to 20/50 after some time.​

 

[Marco]

That's interesting. I'm having some eye problems myself at the moment.

DMSO?

 

[Wayne]

DMSO?

Hi @Marco

I should have left a link for the DMSO part. I think I'll go back and add it. -- Good luck finding something that works well for your eyes.

Self-Heal School of Herbal Studies and Healing
​

This article is pretty comprehensive on the benefits of DMSO, and has a short segment on its use for eye health (snippet below).

DMSO: The Real Miracle Solution

DMSO is effective for macular degeneration and retinal disease, both diseases of the eye. This effectiveness was first discovered when patients with retinitis pigmentosa, a retinal disease, were taking DMSO for certain musculoskeleteal disorders. They sensed that their vision had improved and some had remarkable results (Morton, 1993).

When several patients treated with DMSO for muscular problems reported to Dr. Jacob that their vision had improved, he sent them to Dr. Robert O. Hill, ophthalmologist at the University of Oregon Medical School. Confirming the favorable changes, Dr. Hill began his own experiments with DMSO (after it was known that the lens changes did not happen in humans).

His research showed drops of 50% DMSO to be effective in retinitis pigmentosa and macular degeneration, and presented a report on this at the New York Academy of Sciences symposium in 1971. (Haley, 2000)​

 

[Marco]

Many thanks!

 

[Tammy]

This past week I came across some directions for using castor oil in the eyes to restore moisture and suppleness to the eyes. It was supposed to improve eye vision, and help prevent cataracts. I had mixed results, with it feeling it bit soothing, but kept my vision a bit blurry for too long. Going from castor oil drops, to a single drop in my saline eyewash worked far better. I noticed some unusual twitching in my eyes for a couple days, and ended up feeling I'd made a good find with the castor oil in small amounts in saline eyewash.

Wayne..............I have used castor oil on and off for years in different ways. This last time I used it for a growth/nodule?....which was growing on my upper eyelid below the lashes......so it was right next to the eyeball. I just rubbed a little on the growth itself.......of course it got into my eye..........and like you kept my vision blurry for awhile. Anyway.........it was a short time......within a week that the growth was gone.

 

[brenda]

I was using castor oil but I did think that my eyesight was deteriorating with it. The thing I am using now is A Vogel Eye drops, and I really like them a lot. I think that my eyesight has improved after using the drops at night for year and certainly the corneal rips have stopped.

 

[brenda]

@Wayne Thanks for the reminder about Rosemary though for cognitive improvement (eye wash is too much work for me lol) I have just put a few drops of Rosemary on tissue and am sniffing it.

 

[Forebearance]

Thanks for this info, Wayne! You are such a font of information.

 

[xrayspex]

hey Wayne could you please give a bit more detail about how you prepare your rosemary-saline eyewash and then do it? I have dry eye/sjogrens and really struggling with significant blurriness on and off more as get older--always had pilot vision when younger so really frustrating.
I was doing search on eyebright as thinking of adding back into supplelments the tincture

what is your routine now same as in 2017?

hope to hear from you --thanks!

I've noticed a pretty remarkable improvement in the way my eyes feel in the past 24 hours. As with most things, there's a story, which may give more perspective on my experience.
-

I noticed this past year my eyes were having more and more difficulty with long times on the computer. Then one day a few weeks ago, they almost sort of "gave out". Couldn't be on the computer for more than a few minutes at a time before they would "revolt".

So I began to do some eyewashes again after a long hiatus. Started with John Christopher's herbal eyewash formula. With its cayenne pepper, I didn't care for it, and it seemed to dry my eyes out. I then discovered a saline solution using Himalayan salt (1 tsp per 1 pint of water). I found it to be very soothing, and began using it daily.

My eyes stabilized, but they still limited my computer time. So I kept experimenting. I began to do some basic exercises, such as rolling my eyes, and looking strenuously in different directions--to break up tight eyes muscles. I rubbed by eyes with my hands to get the area muscles to relax.

This past week I came across some directions for using castor oil in the eyes to restore moisture and suppleness to the eyes. It was supposed to improve eye vision, and help prevent cataracts. I had mixed results, with it feeling it bit soothing, but kept my vision a bit blurry for too long. Going from castor oil drops, to a single drop in my saline eyewash worked far better. I noticed some unusual twitching in my eyes for a couple days, and ended up feeling I'd made a good find with the castor oil in small amounts in saline eyewash.

I began to think of eyebright, and whether I should try to get it in bulk to take internally and as part of my eyewash. But before I took that step, I turned to Rosemary. A neighbor who works at the local COOP had a 3 pound bag available at a garage sale for $3. Apparently somebody had ordered a bulk amount, and then didn't pick it up. It was a few months old, but I decided to "splurge" and go for it, having heard it was a good herb (but didn't know for what).

I started drinking the Rosemary tea and noticed it seemed to give me a cognitive boost, and increased my mental stamina a bit. So I did a bit more research, and came across a short article on how it was also good for eyes and the brain (see short snippet from article below). So just two days ago, I began to use it in my regular eyewash. It felt really good. The saline eyewash had always felt good, but when I added the Rosemary, it was like I didn't want to take the eyewash glass away from my eyes.

I did an unusually long stint on the computer yesterday, and am doing another one today. Then all of a sudden it hit me how MUCH improved my eye strength and stamina are today. A huge leap from what it was just prior to starting with the Rosemary. So thought I'd share it here, not only because it might be helpful for eye health, but because it may also have the potential to help with ME/CFS associated cognitive problems. The therapeutic action appears to be the same for each.

Sorry if my story was too long, but sometimes a bit more perspective may be what helps somebody to decide whether to pursue just one more of the zillions of things we probably all consider doing for our health.

Best to All, Wayne.
-
Rosemary's therapeutic potential

Lipton, Rezaie, Satoh and colleagues next tested carnosic acid in an animal model of light-induced damage to photoreceptors - the part of the eye that converts light to electrical signals, enabling visual perception. As compared to the untreated group, rodents pre-treated with carnosic acid retained a thicker outer nuclear layer in the eye, indicating that their photoreceptors were protected. The carnosic acid-treated rodents also exhibited better electroretinogram activity, a measure of healthy photoreceptor function.

What's next for carnosic acid? "We're now developing improved derivatives of carnosic acid and related compounds to protect the retina and other brain areas from a number of degenerative conditions, including age-related macular degeneration and various forms of dementia," said Lipton, director of Sanford-Burnham's Del E. Webb Neuroscience, Aging, and Stem Cell Research Center and an active clinical neurologist.​

-

I think I'll add this short snippet on DMSO for eye health by a natural health care practitioner, which I just found this morning. I'm pretty certain I'll be giving this a try as well at some point.

I applied DMSO directly in the eyes of someone with blepharitis, an inflammatory condition of the oil glands of the eyes that creates an affliction known as dry eyes, which is generally considered chronic. This condition was cleared up in a few days after struggling with it for two years.

I had found that doctors have been treating eye conditions such as retinitis pigmentosa (macular degeneration) with 40% DMSO for forty years, in some cases improving vision from 20/200 to 20/100 in two weeks, and even to 20/50 after some time.​

 

[Seven7]

@Wayne the one thing my OI doctor said is the first thing an OI doctor will notice is pupil changes ( some slow reaction on test).
Rosemary is a vasocontriction herb.
Is interesting since I do prescription that there is a natural drop.
Keep an eye on random symptoms ( where autonomic symptoms) are related.

 

[Wayne]

hey Wayne could you please give a bit more detail about how you prepare your rosemary-saline eyewash and then do it? I have dry eye/sjogrens and really struggling with significant blurriness on and off more as get older--always had pilot vision when younger so really frustrating

Hi @xrayspex,

Sorry to hear how challenging your eye situation is. I've actually not done any eyewashes for probably a couple years now. The reason being is that they tend to dry my eyes out. This "may" be a reflection of my having sjogrens, which my mother had in her later years.

My wife continues to do eyewashes. She makes up a solution of a quart at a time, adding 1 tsp of Himalayan salt, and 1 tsp of borax (see image below) to a quart of water. It would be an easy matter to put these into a quart of rosemary tea, but the tea doesn't stay fresh for more than a few days (about a week max.), while the salt and borax mixture last indefinitely. My wife also adds a few drops of DMSO to her eyewash just before using it.

Though I no longer do eyewashes, I do apply a combination of DMSO and magnesium oil to my eyelids. I apply this combo daily to my lower back, which greatly helps in keeping my lower back problems in check. After applying it to my back (and neck), I then rub it on my closed eyelids. The DMSO easily penetrates deeply into the eyes, and does so without causing any kind of irritation. My eyes have been very stable for the past couple years doing just the DMSO/Mag. Oil. Something I'm extremely grateful for after having such eye troubles prior to this.

BTW, I also ingest approximately an 1/8 tsp or so of the borax everyday as well (for its boron content). Though most people think of it as some kind of chemical detergent, it's actually an all natural compound, somewhat similar to bentonite clay or diatomaceous earth (which I also take regularly).

Good luck with your eye care. I hope some of this helps.

Best, Wayne

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