It is interesting that conditions seem to come in clusters. Yesterday I saw two patients with acute eye pain. As a general family practice doctor, I see all ages of patients with all kinds of conditions. The eyes are windows into the health of the body and vision is our most developed sense as humans. Because of this, I take eye conditions very seriously and recommend everyone gets their eyes checked at least once every couple years by an opthamologist, an eye specialist.
Much can go wrong with eyes, including cataracts, glaucoma, macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, corneal abrasions, pinkeye or conjunctivitis, blepharitis, retinal detachment and more. High blood pressure, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, herpes, temporal arteritis and other systemic conditions also affect the eyes.
One of my patients yesterday came in a week after a mild trauma to her eyeball. Although she had temporary blurred vision, it was back to normal by yesterday. She had self-treated it with homeopathic Arnica montana 30c and an eyewash of marshmallow root and red raspberry leaf tea. I examined her eyes and found some redness of the whites of her eyes and a bruise near her eye. She had poor vision per eye exam in both eyes, most likely senile presbiopia (aka aging eyes). I recommended an eye exam with the local eye doctor to follow up with this as she hasn’t had her vision tested in years. I switched the homeopathic from Arnica to Symphytum officinale 30C. Symphytum, commonly known as comfrey, is known by homeopaths as “The Arnica of the Eye.” It is also useful for bone injuries. We then followed up the last health issue she saw me for, which had resolved. This patient will keep me posted on her recovery.
The second eye pain patient’s eye exam was normal except for mild redness of the white of that eye. Since it had been many years since she had an eye exam and I could not determine the cause of her eye pain, I referred her to the local eye doctor for more evaluation. The beauty of this case was that the patient was worried it was caused by her blood pressure raising (unlikely in this case, but other eye problems are caused by high blood pressure) and it prompted her to come back to see me after a long hiatus. This was her wake up call to get back on track with her health plan as a whole. She quit smoking and has started exercising again and is now back on the natural protocol we had her on last year that works to keep her blood pressure low and energy high.
Take care of your eyes this summer and consider an eye exam if you haven’t had one in a few years. Seek emergency care if you ever have a sudden change in vision. Prevent eye problems by avoiding direct sun in the eyes and eating plenty of in season summer fruits and veggies such as tomatoes and carrots and berries are rich in nutrients that keep our eyes healthy and vision sharp!
Margaret Philhower, ND
