Castor Oil and dry eyes

Castor oil is a thick, colourless oil that is produced by pressing and then filtering castor beans from the castor plant, Ricinus communis.

The plant is native to Africa and Asia and has been traditionally used in these cultures for centuries.

Castor Oil has a large number of uses in natural medicine including for many skin conditions, detoxing the body, a laxative, breaking down internal scar tissue, hair growth, ear ache, arthritis and in recent years, a study conducted in New Zealand has found that castor oil can dramatically reduce symptoms of blepharitis, or eyelid and ocular (eyeball) surface inflammation.

The study took place across four weeks with 26 participants, all with clinical signs of blepharitis. They used a rollerball application of castor oil across both the top and bottom eyelids topically, twice daily on just one of their eyes and assessed the results. The improvements found in the participants included significant improvement in ocular surface signs as well as improvement in eyelid margin thickening, spider veins, eyelash matting, eyelash and eyebrow hair loss, cylindrical dandruff, staphylococcal and seborrheic eyelash crusting and inflammation from use of contact lenses.

Because castor oil is so thick, it forms a protective layer on the skin and locks in moisture by penetrating the skin barrier. It is anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial and anti-ageing.

Castor oil can be used for a number of ailments. High concentrations of ricinoleic acid mean it can easily penetrate the dermis of the skin, stimulating the production of collagen and allowing it to enter the circulatory and lymphatic systems. Using a castor oil pack (oil soaked compress with a hot water bottle on top) on your abdomen over your liver can assist with detoxing; putting a small amount of castor oil in your bellybutton daily can improve digestion, help with constipation, and reduce menstrual pain; massaging castor oil on your scalp can increase hair growth; and a blend of 10-20% castor oil and another carrier oil can be used as a facial cleanser that treats acne and skin inflammation.

Because castor oil can deeply penetrate skin, it is not required to be taken internally to make a significant improvement to your health. Applying castor oil to your eyelids will still allow the oil to penetrate and help to improve dryness in your ocular surface (eyeball), just as applying a pack to your abdomen or bellybutton will still improve a raft of internal symptoms.

If you would like to find out more about how castor oil may benefit your health, talk to your natural health professional.