Hello my Self Care Circus Freaks! Today I want to tell you about my fix for dust and pollen related issues, AKA Itchy and Scratchy Eyes. It’s cheap, it’s effective, and it’s non-toxic! (In fact, you could drink it, although it tastes terrible.) This here is my favorite piece of kitchen witchery.

Necessity: The Mama of Invention

A few years back my dog Zeke got an eye infection. He’s pretty boogery as it is (he takes after his mama), but instead of your garden-variety brown dog boogers, these were yellow-y/green, conjuntivitis-lookin’ boogers. He has allergies, he gets itchy, and he scratches them with his dang dirty dog paws. Itchy and Scratchy eyes. Bleah!

Now, Zeke’s had many an eye infection in his dog years, and they involve taking him to the vet (he FREAKS out), paying for the visit, and paying for the overpriced eye goo, which I then had to get into his eyes. Twice a day. For a week. So that’s a couple hundred dollars down the drain, plus major stress and annoyance for the both of us. There had to be a better way to deal with itchy and scratchy eyes!

It’s ALIVE! (With anti-bacterial/viral/fungal props!)

After many searches on the interwebs, and some “Mad Scientist” type experiments, I came up with this recipe. I tested it on myself (to see that it didn’t burn), and found that it made my crunchy eyes feel better too. (Seriously, y’all, certain times of year I can actually hear myself blink.) So I started thinking, and when I had an infection in my sinuses, I mixed it up and put it in my neti pot (<another post entirely) and used it to rinse out my sinuses. (I told my ENT about it, thinking he’d yell at me, and he looked impressed and said, “That’s a good idea!” *Beams*)

So to do this you need fresh oregano. (You can use dried, but it’s A) wayyy stronger, and B) wayyy crumbly, and you don’t want chunks of herbs in your eyeballs.) You do grow fresh herbs, right? No? Do it, people! It’s like having food, flavoring, and medicine, right in your very own yard! (< Yet another post entirely.)

What to do, what to do?

Where was I? Oh yes, take a handful of fresh oregano sprigs, rinse them thoroughly (don’t want bug poop in your eyes), and crush the leaves in about 2 cups filtered water in a small pot. Boil until it’s reduced to about a cup. Strain the leaves out. Stir in a teaspoon of salt ’til dissolved. (I use Himalayan Pink, but any good quality will do.) Let cool. Then stir in a teaspoon of un-pasteurized, LOCAL honey. This is key, as un-pasteurized means you get all the anti-bacterial, anti-viral, anti-fungal properties of the honey (< yet another, ‘nother post), and local means that the bees made it from the very pollen that is giving you fits. Put it in a tiny squeeze bottle. (Before I do this, I usually put a drop or two in my eye to see if I got the water/salt ratio right. You want it to almost feel like seawater.) Then eyewash away! Bid itchy and scratchy eyes buh-bye!

In conclusion…

The Zeke-ster isn’t near as weirded out by a day or two of this as he was the icky goo he couldn’t see through, and I get to get particulate matter out of my own eyes as well. I don’t stress him with a visit to the vet, and I don’t stress my bank account with one. Everybody wins. Oh, and sometimes it works in just one go. Two at the most. (Take that, Big Dog Pharma!)

I hope this little tip makes your life better. It has mine. And Zeke’s. No more itchy and scratchy eyes. If you try it, or have a different recipe or remedy, please put down in the comments. 

Be Seeing you, (teehee, get it?!)