Causes of Eye Stye:
Following are the causes of eye stye:

• Accumulation of dust, oil or bacteria
• Stress
• Exposure to eye debris
• Some eye problems such as conjunctivitis
• Weak immune system
• Refractive error

Symptoms of Eye Stye:
Here are some of the symptoms of eye stye:

• Accumulation of pus in stye
• Blurred vision of afflicted eye
• Uneasiness
• Pain
• Sensitivity to light
• Tenderness
• Watery eyes
• Swelling of eyelids
• Discomfort on blinking
• Redness

Eye Stye Home Remedies:
Dandelion Tea: Bacteria are the main cause of an eye stye. Drink dandelion tea every day to improve the immunity to fight bacteria.

Warm water: This is a simple remedy. Soak a cotton ball in warm water and keep it on eyes for a few minutes. It gives relief from pain associated with stye.

Triphala water: This is another effective remedy. Take a glass of water and add a tablespoon of triphala powder to it. Mix it well and leave it for 10 – 12 hours. Strain it and use it to wash the eyes.

Coriander seeds: Take a tablespoon of coriander seeds and boil them in a cup of water. Strain the mixture and use it for washing the eyes.

Alum solution: Alum solution is another best option. This will give relief from stye. Mix 2 – 3 alum granules in a cup of water and use it for washing your eyes.

Tea bags: Take wet tea bag and place it on your eye for nearly 8 – 10 minutes. You can practice this several times a day.

Potato: Mash one potato and make its paste. Apply potato paste on inflamed eyes. This is another simple home remedy.

Turmeric: Take a tablespoon of turmeric and boil it in a cup of water. Boil the mixture until it reduces to half the quantity. Thoroughly strain this solution and use it as eye drops.

Aloe vera: Cut the aloe vera leaf into half and keep the fleshy part on affected eye.

Clove: Soak clove in water and keep it on eye. This reduces the stye pain.

Guava leaves: Guava leaves reduce the redness and pain of the stye. Keep them in warm water and later damp them. Slowly compress it on eyes.

Castor oil: Apply castor oil on eyes several times a day. Do not let the oil enter the eyes.

Egg white: Spread egg white on paper towel or cotton pad and place it on eye. This is another useful eye stye home remedy.

go a long way in enhancing comfort, style and appearance. Freedom from glasses has improved the quality of life immensely for people with eye ailments.

It is estimated that around 125 million people use these lenses worldwide. Around 28 to 38 million people wear lenses in the United States alone.

However, all freedom comes at a cost. There are some basic rules that need to be followed while wearing them. This ensures that persistent usage of lenses do not harm the eye.

Tips to take care of Contact Lenses?

• It is extremely important to see a doctor and get a prescription for lenses to get started. The doctor can demonstrate the proper way of putting lenses on and off without damaging or scratching the surface of the eye.
• Lens manufacturers also include a how to manual along with the kit that contains the new lenses. It could always be helpful to read these instructions.
• Hygiene and cleanliness is of utmost importance when it comes to artificial lens usage. Washing hands clean with an allergen free soap and drying them with a lint free towel is mandatory when it comes to using them. A pair of dirt free hands ensures that no irritant is transferred back to the eyes along with the lenses.
• Avoid using cosmetics and fragrances immediately before handling lenses. This ensures that chemicals in cosmetics and fragrances do not get to your eyes.
• Nails should never be used to handle lenses. The dirt from the nail beds gets on them and nails may end up causing tears in them.
• After removing lens from eyes, they should be placed on the palm of the hand individually and rinsed with the disinfectant solution meant for lenses. The case should be rinsed and refilled with fresh solution before placing lenses back. The lenses should be kept totally submerged in the solution. Cases should be closed tight to avoid exposure of the lenses to air, dust and dirt. Manufacturers’ guidelines about cleaning and storage should be followed.
• The disinfectant lens care solution should be good quality, FDA approved and not expired. It is of utmost importance to not used expired solution.
• Using saliva or any other solution in an emergency can cause severe harm to the eyes. It is prudent to carry a mini travel size bottle of solution in handbag to prevent such occurrence.
• If at any point of time you feel dryness, itching or discomfort in eyes it would be a good idea to take off
  

  contact lenses

  and contact your eye care professional. It is important to remember that your eyes are precious. So good care of them needs to be taken.

• Use home made eyewash to clean your eyes. Eyewash recipe:

1. Make eye wash at home using one tablespoon each of comfrey root, fennel seeds and goldenseal powder. Mix comfrey root and fennel seeds in a cup of water and boil for few minutes. Cool it in refrigerator and then use. Add goldenseal powder to make it stronger.
2. Here’s another eyewash recipe: mix one cup of rose petal and four tablespoon of raspberry leaves in four cups of boiling water. After it cools, strain and use as eyewash.

• To avoid sport related injuries, or if you are working in a workshop or mowing the lawn, use protective eyewear like safety glasses or full face shields to prevent debris from entering your eye and causing eye injury. Use glasses made of polycarbonate or another sturdy plastic.
• Consume food items rich in vitamin A for improving and maintaining healthy vision. Eat lots of spinach as it contains carotenoid needed for retina and eye tissue. If vitamin A is taken as a supplement, then take 25,000 IU of vitamin A daily.
• To cure retinopathy in diabetic patients, take ginkgo biloba. It increases the oxygen and nutrient supply to the eye and clears toxins.
• Place thin slices of potatoes on your eyes.
• To cool your eyes and increase blood supply, splash plain cold water over your eyes several times and then rub briskly for a minute with a clean towel.
• Mix half a teaspoon of liquorice powder with an equal quantity of honey and ghee. Mix this preparation in a cup of milk and consume in empty stomach twice daily.
• Face the sun with your eyes closed. Sway sideways several times. Open the eyes and blink for 10 minutes.

• Apply warm compress on your eyes for 5 to 10 minutes for 3 to 4 times a day.
• Clean your eyes using a cotton ball dipped in sterile water.
• Juice of raw vegetables especially of carrot and spinach is effective in the treatment of conjunctivitis.
• Consume food items rich in vitamin A and B2 – milk, curd, butter, carrots, pumpkin, green leafy vegetables, tomatoes, almonds, citrus fruits, mangoes, and papaya.
• Make a cup of gooseberry juice and mix it with honey. Have it twice in a day.
• Wash your eye with coriander leaves crushed in water.
• Avoid excessive starchy and sugary food.
• Place a towel soaked in cold water over the eyes. Cover it with a piece of warm towel to retain the temperature. Keep it for one hour every night for a week.
• Do some eye exercises like moving your eyes from side to side, up and down, in circles clockwise and anticlockwise. Rotate your neck and then your shoulders clockwise and anticlockwise.
• Place moist chamomile tea-bag on your eyes for 10 minutes. Repeat it for every 3 hours.

Through these simple exercises you could prevent further vision damage.

• Take off your glasses and contact lenses before you begin to exercise.
• Rub the palm of your hands until it is warm. Cover your eyes with your cupped palm, and do not let any light enter through the gaps of your fingers. Imagine black color and focus on it. Breathe slowly and evenly. Do the exercise whenever you find time.
• Roll your eyes in a clockwise direction first and then in anticlockwise direction.
• Look straight. Focus on an object at a long distance. Shift your focus to an object far away at the right side without turning your head. Similarly, turn your focus to the left side.
• Leave your eyes closed for 5 seconds and then open it for 5 seconds. Repeat 10 times.
• Close your eyes and look directly at the sun. Turn your head from side to side as much as you can.
• Focus on a distant object for half a minute; and then, focus on a nearby object. Repeat this at least 5 times.
• These days, 3D stereo images are used as tools for training the eyes to treat vision problems.
• Hold your fingers slightly away from your nose, and then slowly bring it close to your nose. Let your eyes follow the movement of your fingers.

1. Dry Eyes:

Your eyes can get damaged by extreme dryness, so get medical advice even for mild cases. Artificial tears are often effective at treating dry eyes, but a few people are allergic to the preservatives present in them. Avoid direct air from fan or AC, hair dryers and smoky or overheated rooms. Wear sunglasses whenever you go out. Eye glasses can often reduce the dryness caused by wind.

2. Glaucoma:

It needs early diagnosis and treatment. People over the age of 65, or suffering from diabetes or those who have a family history of glaucoma, and the near-sighted need more frequent checkups. Your doctor can prescribe pills or eye-drops to reduce the pressure. They are effective in preserving vision and must be taken for life. Other methods such as Laser and conventional surgical techniques are also useful in some cases.

3. Detached retina:

Seek treatment immediately, as this may cause blindness. See an ophthalmologist as soon as possible. There are many treatments available now, including laser or surgical repair. These can successfully correct early retinal detachments in 90% of the cases.

4. Blepharitis:

You can apply warm moist compresses for 10 minutes several times in a day. And wash your eyelids with diluted baby shampoo, without letting it enter your eyes. If the problem doesn’t clear up, consult an eye-care professional, to prescribe some drops or ointment.  Don’t rub or scratch your eyelids.

5. Foreign Bodies:

Don’t rub or scratch your eye. Wash your eye with water, or hold your eye in a glass full of water. If the discomfort persists or becomes severe, see a doctor. Be careful with your nails, because you may end up scratching your eye. Never try to remove any particle that appears embedded in the eye, especially in the cornea.

6. Conjuctivitis (pink eye):

It is highly infectious. Avoid touching or rubbing your eye, to avoid spreading infection to the other eye, or to other people. Wipe away the discharge with a clean moist tissue. Use a seperate towel, that nobody uses. Wash your hands often and don’t use contact lenses or eye-makeup for some days. Get a doctor’s help if redness worsens, discharge is severe, eye becomes very painful or vision is persistently blurred. Antibiotic eye drops can clear up most bacterial infections.

7. Cataracts:

This requires surgical removal of the lens and replacement with intraocular lenses that are implanted in eye. This treatment is usually safe and 95 % effective at improving vision.

8. Macular degeneration:

It usually occurs in older people. Its symptoms include decreased acuity, loss or distortion of central vision and blind spots. Sun exposure may also aggravate the condition. There is no sure-shot cure for this but vision loss may be slowed with early treatment, that includes supplements containing zinc and antioxidants.  It may be dry or wet. The ‘dry’ form is more common whereas the ‘wet’ form is more severe, and there is an increased blood vessel formation and hemorrhages. Laser surgery may also help some people.

9. Stye:

Symptoms include red painful inflammation like a small boil on the eyelid. You can apply warm moist compresses for 10 minutes several times in a day. Don’t squeeze or rub it. It can spread the infection. See a doctor if the stye appears frequently or takes longer to heal.

Natural Cures for Eye Styes

1. Take a gold ring and rub the sty with the gold ring a few times everyday. It will stop the pain and the sty will go away.
2. Using a hot compress is the best option. Apply a clean warm wet cloth to the eyes and press gently on the affected area for a few minutes. Do this for 4 to 5 times a day.
3. Boil a teaspoon of coriander seeds with a cup of water, like a herbal tea preparation. Wash your eyes 3 to 4 times a day with this solution.
4. Warm some Guava leaves and place them on a warm damp cloth, and use as a compress to reduce the redness and swelling.
5. Boil 1 teaspoon of turmeric in 2 cups of water, until it reduces to half. Cool and strain it through a muslin cloth. And apply as eye drops 3 times a day.
6. Take a cup of water and dissolve 2 to 3 granules of alum in it. And use as an eyewash.
7. You can also use a grated potato as a poultice, to reduce swelling in inflamed eyes.
8. Boil a handful of acacia leaves in two cups of water and make a decoction. Apply it as a compress on the eyes.
9. Rub clove spice in water and apply to the eye stye.
10. Slit an aloe leaf lengthwise and place the pulpy side on the sore eye.
11. Take a raw egg and seperate the white from yellow. Then place the white of the raw egg in a white cotton cloth or paper towel. Keep it on the stye 3 times a day for 15 minutes each time.
12. Mix Johnson’s baby shampoo with water. Put this solution on a Q-tip and wash the eye lashes with it. Do this twice a day.
13. Wet tea bags in warm water and place them on the eyes for 8-10 minutes. Do this several times a day. This shrinks the sty to half its size because of the tannic acid present in tea.
14. Or you can run cold water over a tea bag. Squeeze the water and then place it on your eye for about 30 mins.
15. Make a solution of warm water and salt. Let it cool a bit, so that you can apply it on your eyes. Soak some cotton in it and hold it to your eye for a minute. Repeat this technique a few times with fresh cotton.

Eye Stye Tips

When you get an eye stye, you may need to follow certain preventive tips to stop the spread of styes:

1. Maintaining proper hygiene is very important. Always remember to wash hands before and after touching the infected eye.
2. Never squeeze or pop a stye, because the infection might spread from one eye to another.
3. Avoid touching or rubbing the infected eyes.
4. Apply warm compresses to the eyelid at least four to five times a day.
5. Keep the eyelids clean and free of oil.
6. Avoid excessive intake of sugary and starchy food.
7. Styes may also spread from an infected person to another member of the family. Use a separate towel and soap if you have an eye stye.
8. Gently clean the eyelid with a clean, warm washcloth everyday.
9. Visit an opthalmologist and get a Rx ointment or oral antibiotics. Apply the antibiotic ointment or drops regularly that your doctor has prescribed.
10. Do not wear contact lenses when you get an eye stye.
11. Never share your eye make-up, especially if you are prone to getting styes often.
12. Styes can be prevented by maintaining good hygiene, proper diet and relaxation techniques like palming.
13. Protect your eyes from pollution and dust.
14. Sometimes the stye may need to be surgically removed. Surgical drainage of the stye is necessary if the stye is not responding to treatment.

When doing these exercises, keep your eyes open and don’t move your head or body. Keep your spine erect. Hands on the knees and head straight. The whole body must be motionless. Do not move anything except eyes.

Eye Exercises:

1. Stand and raise your eyes to find a small point that you can see clearly without straining or moving your head. Look at this point each time you raise your eyes.

Then lower your eyes to find a small point on the floor which you can see clearly while glancing down. Look at it when lower your eyes. Keep your breathing normal.

2. Look up by moving your eyes as far as you can, and then downwards as far as you can. Repeat this three to four times. Blink a few times quickly to relax the eye muscles.

3. Now do the same, using points on your right and left side, at eye level. Keep two pencils on each side as points at the eye level. You can use your fingers also for this. Look to the right chosen point, and then to the left. Repeat this four times. Blink several times, then close your eyes and rest.

4. Now choose a point you can see from the right corner of your eyes when you raise them, and another point that you can see from the left corner of your eyes when you lower them, by half closing the lids. Look at the chosen point in the right corner up and then to the one in left corner down. Repeat this four times. Blink several times. Then close your eyes and rest.

5. Now do the same in reverse, by choosing a point in left corner up and right corner down. Repeat four times. Then Blink several times. And close your eyes and rest.

6. Take a pencil, or use your finger, and hold it under the tip of your nose. Then start moving it away, without raising it, to a distance where you can see it clearly without any blur. Then slowly move the pencil nearer to your nose and then move it farther away, and keep looking at it. Then blink a few times.

7. Close your eyes tightly, so that the eye muscles contract. Hold for three seconds, and then let go quickly. This exercise lets your eyes relax. Blink your eyes a few times.

8. Then do this exercise called ‘palming’, that relaxes and soothes the tired eyes. It is an ideal way to finish off the eye exercises. This is also good for preserving eyesight. This exercise also has a beneficial and relaxing effect on the mind.

Briskly rub your palms to heat them and place the cupped palms over your eyes. Place your hands over your eyes for several minutes. Then rub again and repeat. Keep the neck straight and don’t bend your head. Deep breathe, while palming.

• Take 2 used teabags, refrigerate them for some time and place on your tired eyes for 20 minutes. Voila ! You have fresh and beautiful eyes.
• Or boil some tea in a little water and let it cool. Dip 2 cotton pads in it and place the pads on each eye for 15 minutes. This is an effective treatment for tired eyes.
• Place cucumber slices on your eyes for half an hour. And then wash your eyes with cold water.
• If you have tired eyes, wash them with cold water several times a day. This treatment reduces inflammation, relaxes the eyes & provides relief from eyestrain & fatigue.
• Dip two cotton pads in rose water and place them on your eyes for atleast 20 minutes.
• Lavender oil is also known to offer relief for tired and strained eyes. Add a drop of lavender oil to 500 ml of water and shake the solution well. Dip two cotton pads in it, squeeze out the excess water and place one pad on each eye.