Natural Ways to Heal Pink Eye

Natural Ways to Heal Pink Eye

You can heal pink eye naturally! You don’t have to spend lots of money on expensive doctor’s visits to get a prescription for antibiotic drops.

A couple of weeks ago, I woke up in the middle of the night with my eyes glued together. No, not literally, but it definitely felt like it! The episode took me back to my childhood–when I was about 4 or 5 years old. It was the only other time I had experienced pink eye.

I had heard that pink eye could only be cured with prescription antibiotic drops, but I decided to try natural ways to heal pink eye anyway. (I’m hard headed that way, and I didn’t want to fork out a co-pay to go to the doctor!)

I began to ask around for suggestions on ways to naturally heal pink eye in my local crunchy mama group, and I got a wide variety of answers of what had worked for people in the past.

Before the week was over, both my 4 and 2-year-old daughters also had developed pink eye, but, thankfully, my husband never caught it. (And although my 6-year-old didn’t get it from us, we believe she may have had a mild case a few weeks back that led me to pick it up in the first place. It was so mild that we couldn’t even tell it was pink eye.)

Now, keep in mind that I am not a medical professional. I am just a mom who loves to try her hand at natural remedies before breaking out the meds. Please consult your trusted healthcare provider before trying any of these at home. Pink eye can be serious. Try these natural remedies under the guidance of a professional.

Although pink eye can clear on its own, if your baby has pink eye or if your pink eye is severe or prolonged, please see a medical professional.

Without further ado, check out these natural ways to heal pink eye!

1. Raw Honey Drops

My friend Megan suggested these. I simply dissolved one teaspoon of local, raw honey (it must be raw!) in a small bowl of warm (not hot!) water. I then used a dropper to drop several drops in our eyes about three times per day.

I noticed a difference within hours of using this natural way to heal pink eye!

Raw honey is both antibacterial and antiviral, so whether or not the pink eye is bacterial or viral (it can be both, and it’s nearly impossible to know which type you have), this treatment has you covered.

2. Colloidal Silver

Colloidal silver is a natural antibiotic. It should not be overused. I have used it in the past mainly to cure ear infections by placing the drops in my daughters’ ears. I have also taken it a few times internally myself, when I felt an illness coming on.

Colloidal silver is one of those items I always keep in my natural medicine cabinet. I usually get mine at Vitacost.com (click here for a $5 off coupon!), but you can also find it on Amazon.com. These two offer it for much cheaper than at my local health store.

Now, there is some speculation over whether or not it’s actually safe to put colloidal silver in your eyes. I didn’t know this until after we had cured our pink eye–by putting it in our eyes. It was then that I read on my bottle: “Do not put in eyes.”

Oops.

But there are other sources that say it’s OK.

If you have doubts about colloidal silver, just use raw honey. You can’t go wrong there.

We used the colloidal silver in the same way as the raw honey drops–a couple of drops a few times per day. We actually rotated the honey drops and colloidal silver drops. My daughters screamed so much and held their eyes closed no matter what drops we used, so it’s hard to know how much actually made it into their eyes.

But I do think the combination of raw honey and colloidal silver was highly effective.

Raw honey and colloidal silver were the way we personally naturally healed pink eye, but the following are some other ways that I read about but didn’t need to try:

3. Breast Milk

I’ve heard of the benefits of breast milk for pink eye for years, and I’d never had the opportunity to try. My youngest (almost 27 months!) is still nursing some, but I definitely did not have enough milk to try this. I did squeeze a little on my finger and rubbed it on my daughter’s eyes one day, but it was a lot of work when I could just use the raw honey and colloidal silver drops.

But if you are nursing or have plenty of breast milk pumped, I would totally try this method! You can simply squirt a few drops in the eyes several times per day.

4. Chamomile Tea

Supposedly placing the tea bags on your eyes do wonders for soothing them! Our eyes were not overly gooey or uncomfortable, but I would definitely have tried this method for naturally healing pink eye if they had been.

5. Lavender Essential Oil

A friend who sells essential oils suggested rubbing lavender around (but definitely not IN!) the eyes. I do have lavender on hand, but the other methods were working so well that I didn’t try this one either.

Supposedly you can do the same thing with lemon juice.

In addition to these methods, we made sure to clean our eyes out frequently with warm, moistened wash cloths, making sure to always use new cloths. We also washed our hands frequently, especially after touching the eyes.

I wore my glasses instead of my contact lenses until the pink eye cleared up, and I switched to a new pair of contact lenses when I was sure it was gone. I also refrained from using eye makeup and began using a new tube of mascara once it was gone.

I’m happy to say we healed pink eye naturally–without doctor’s co-pays or prescription drops!

Have you ever had pink eye? How did you get over it? What are your suggestions for natural ways to heal pink eye?

If you enjoyed this post, you might also like:

10 Natural Ways to Prevent Colds and the Flu

How to Avoid a Stomach Virus After Being Exposed

Natural Relief for Seasonal Allergies

The Ultimate Guide to Building a Natural Medicine Cabinet

Disclaimer: I am not a health professional. I am just a mom who loves to use natural remedies. Please consult your trusted healthcare provider before making any decisions regarding your health. I cannot be held liable or responsible for your health decisions. These remedies are shared for entertainment and educational purposes only and are not meant to diagnose or cure any disease. None of these statements have been evaluated by the FDA and are not meant to diagnose, treat or cure any disease.

Original article and pictures take thehumbledhomemaker.com site