A few weeks ago, I woke up to find my eyelids stuck--as if glued shut--to my eyeballs. When I attempted to open them, the sensation was more or less that of ripping off a BAND-AID®; not very pleasant. Although I have not yet seen an optometrist for a professional diagnosis, what little research I have done on my own via Google and WebMD has led me to believe that the itchy red sensation is that of dry eye syndrome; probably closer toward the advanced stages.

Factors contributing to it are likely:

• The length of time I spend sitting in front of a computer, television, cell phone, and handheld game consoles where its easy to forget to blink; a growing trend for just about every American, I assume.
• Mild allergies exasperated by the hot, dry, dusty climate of Eagle Mountain, Utah. Especially the part of town where I live which is all new homes and there are huge tracts of undeveloped land full of weeds for the time being.
• Irregular sleeping patterns; depending on the day, you can sometimes find me up in the wee hours of the morning burning the midnight oil. A phenomenon well known by many entreprenuers.

So, I suppose that night my bloodshot eyes had progressed to coagulating.

Rather alarmed, and fearing the long-term effects on my vision, I began investigating a home remedy that might alleviate the problem. I tried the Visine Tears® Lubricant Eye Drops, and while those helped, the relief was somewhat temporary and a regular dose was required at least every 1-2 hours.

Long story short, eventually I read something that suggested I break out our Air-O-Swiss® Ultrasonic Humidifier we got from Bed Bath & Beyond about four years ago. Just placing it in the room didn't really seem to make a difference at all, but once I set it on a chair next to my face and aimed the steam nozzle right at my eyes--instant lasting relief! After only 4-5 days my eyes feel fully recovered and the sclera are looking their healthy pearly white again.

Isn't it wonderful that we have the Internet and can even self-diagnose and prescribe remedies without the cost and hassle of driving out to see a doctor--not out of thrift, but simply convenience? I would venture to guess a growing number of Americans are feeling the same. I wonder what consequences this will have on the medical industry?

Anyway, ever since then, I've noticed others with the itchy red eye look. Giving them the benefit of the doubt and assuming they're not blazed, I recommend my handy new solution to anyone.

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Posted in: Home Remedies

This entry was posted on Friday, February 22nd, 2008 at 4:35 PM. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response.