Best Natural Remedies for Dry Eyes

It is said that the eyes are the window of the soul. What if your eyes are dry, irritated, itchy, or red? Eye drops may be helpful but they are not going to get to the root of the problem.

Dry Eye Symptoms – Some of the symptoms of dry eyes include:

•  itchiness
•  a scratchy or gritty feeling
•  tears running down the cheeks
•  increasingly tired eyes during the day
•  irritation from smoke, wind, or air movement
•  stringy mucus
•  sensitivity to light
•  blurriness
•  problems wearing contact lenses

Causes of Dry Eyes – There are two reasons why dry eyes develop:

• not enough oil production by the meibomian glands (in the inner eyelids
• excessive evaporation of the tears.

Also, if you have an autoimmune disease such as diabetes, arthritis, lupus, or Sjögren’s syndrome, you are more prone to develop dry eye.

Contributing Factors

•  Reading or computer work (blinking too little to redistribute eye fluid)
•  Living and/or working in dry environments
•  Contact lenses that absorb eye fluids
•  LASIK eye surgery, which cuts nerves and reduces blinking
•  Allergy drugs, diuretics, beta-blockers, birth control pills, or other drugs
•  Diets deficient in essential fatty acids or anti-inflammatory foods (follow my book The Anti-Inflammation Diet)
•  Eyes that have excessive droopiness

Check Your Hormone Levels

Studies have associated androgen (testosterone) and estrogen receptors on the cornea and on the meibomian gland. What this means is that there is connection between your tears and your sex hormones.

Before menopause, the greater your testosterone, the fewer tears you produce; the greater your estrogen, the more tears you make.

During menopause, this reverses: the greater your testosterone, the greater your tears and the lower your estrogen, the fewer your tears. There is much to learn about how hormones play a role in the lubrication of the eyes, but dry eyes can result from a deficiency in estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone. If dry eyes are experienced for a long time, you can develop inflammation in they eyes. One way to remedy dry eyes is to restore a balance among estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone.

Detox Your Body

Symptoms of dry eye might be a warning that your body is not detoxifying properly. It may be time to do a cleanse. Take a look at the Internal Cleanse Kit.

Also, add omega-3 supplements or fish oil to your diet plan. A recent study showed that a diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids reduced the risk of dry eye by 20 percent compared to women with low levels of omega–3.

In addition, there are other benefits when you increase your intake of omega-3 fatty acids (with supplements; eating fish, such as mackerel, tuna, or wild salmon; or eating some nuts and seeds). They naturally moderate inflammation. They also assist in tear stimulation and secretion and help to increase oils in the secretion. In addition they are thought to moderate extra production of estrogen. These all help provide natural lubrication instead of temporary relief with eye drops.

Notes
https://www.womentowomen.com/menopause-perimenopause/dry-eyes-and-hormone-imbalance/