Dry eye syndrome can be a difficult condition to cope with, especially if you are a contact lens wearer.
Many patients found that the eye drops that can be purchased at the pharmacy don’t work, and can even be hazardous to use – eye drops that contain preservatives can aggravate dry eye symptoms, and even kill corneal cells. Eye drops that promise to “get the red out” will reduce circulation in the eye, decrease production of the tear film, and worse, eventually make your eyes even drier.
A study published in Contact Lens and Anterior Eye showed that the omega-6 fatty acids in evening primrose oil can help reduce dry eye symptoms in female contact lens wearers. After six months, the women in the trial who were administered evening primrose oil reported less eye dryness than those who received the placebo (olive oil).
In an earlier pilot study, patients suffering from dry eye symptoms who exhibited a chronic need/use of lubricant drops were given X500 mg capsules of evening Primrose oil (Efamol-73% linoleic acid and 10% gamma-linolenic acid), 50 mg vitamin B6 (pyroxidine) and 1 g vitamin C three times a day. Over 50% of those in the study showed substantial improvement within 2-6 weeks.
