| |  | | Eyebright for the Eyes
Answered by: Susan Eagles
Question from: Name not given
Posted on: November 26, 2002
I have read somewhere that eyebright is good for your eyes, but I can’t remember exactly what it does. I would appreciate any information on this herb.
Eyebright (Euphrasia officinalis) is anti-inflammatory, anti-histamine, astringent and clears mucus. It works especially on the eyes, nose and sinuses.
You can make a tea by steeping one teaspoon of eyebright herb in a cup of boiling water for 10 minutes. This tea can be taken internally, 1/2 to one cup, three times daily, and used as a lotion to wash the eyes. As an eyewash for conjunctivitis, styes, strained, red, or itchy eyes, half fill an eyecup with warm (not hot) eyebright tea, and wash over eye while exercising the eye by moving the eyeball sideways and up and down.
Thomas Bartram, in "Bartram’s Encyclopedia of Herbal Medicine" (available at Richters) states that this tea is said to strengthen a weak memory and improve circulation of the brain, and that it has been used since the first century for eye infections.
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