Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

NOTE: My reviews are typically long and informative. I break them into two main sections: IN BRIEF and FULL REVIEW. That way if you just want the short side of it, go for IN BRIEF. Otherwise, if you have the time, I trust you’ll enjoy the full review. [...] >> IN BRIEF: For those who don't like long and informative product "reviews" << The short story is this: This product helped my elderly friend to see better after just 1 week of use. He has glaucoma and severe cataracts, and was practically blind. I think his sight improvements was due to a reduction in the cataracts. I can't say much about its effect on the glaucoma without seeing the results of medical tests. My partner and I find it makes our eyes feel clear and wonderful. I recommend trying it out and using internally AND as an eye wash (following the procedure I share below). 5 out of 5 stars. It's a small investment, for many potential benefits to such an important part of the body… Your eyes. >> FULL REVIEW: For a longer story... if you have the time and interest, please read on: << > The story of my friend < I bought this product for an elderly gentleman I was assisting (in Panama, Central America) with improving his health. He was nearly blind when I met him, due to advanced glaucoma and fairly serious cataracts. When I met him, he was booked in for surgery to have both “corrected”. After less than two weeks of using this product topically in the eyes twice a day he was happily reporting his eye-sight was improving. By the time he'd finished the first bottle he said he could see again. His vision was far from perfect, but he could at once again recognise faces again, and everything was no longer just a blur for him. Consequently, he postponed his surgery for a few months in order to continue with the eye wash. I also had him taking Diatomaceous earth powder to help cleanse the body of parasites, but I don't directly attribute his eye improvement to that; rather he and I think it was the eyebright formula. He was using it in his eyes and taking it internally. He was simply drinking what was left in the eye cup after each rinse (not the most savory thing to imagine, I know, but things are pretty simple in this part of the world, and the cost of these drops is high for someone in his position). He was using about 4 drops in each eye; 8 drops diluted into just enough boiled water to fill the eye cup twice (once for each eye). UPDATE 27/09/2013: Whilst ordering three more bottles for the above-mentioned friend, I thought I'd leave a minor update. Just to say it is perhaps 18 months since he started and he continues to use these drops each day. He was almost blind when I met him. He says he is doing well (seeing people's faces and the things around him; although not well enough to read). Blurry, but much better than it was. Good enough that he's asked for three more bottles. For a simple elderly man living in Panama, these drops are very expensive. $11 would buy him at least a week worth of food. So he is happy enough with the results to keep using it. He's still on a wait list for the surgery. >> The story of me and my partner << Unable to recommend things to people which I have no tried myself, I also did eye rinses every evening for a few weeks. My partner did the same as me, although she worked up to 4 drops per eye, and I worked up to 5 or 6. Here is my process: 1) Boil a little water in a saucepan (boiling it any method will work) 2) Pour approximately 2 eye cups full of water into a tea cup. 3) Add the total number of drops to provide the intended amount per eye. So for 4 drops per eye, add 8 drops in total. I started with just 2 drops for each eye, and progressed over a week or so to 5 or 6 drops per eye. You can work your way up to 8 per eye according to the manufacturer. 4) When the mixture is cool to the touch (I test the temp with my cleaned finger knuckle, as it's more sensitive than a finger tip) I fill the eyecup and rinse the first eye by tilting the head completely back, and then opening the eye for a split second or two, and then closing it again. My eyes are clean, so I'd happily drink what the eye cup of liquid before filling for the next eye. I see no point in wasting it, unless the eye is infected or messy in some way. - YES IT WILL STING when you first open the eye into the eye rinse. This is normal and to be expected. In my opinion there is no harm done in relation to this stinging sensation. The cayenne will increase the blood circulation in the eye ball and surrounding tissues. It will also accelerate the absorption and distribution of the other herbs in the tincture. - I open and close the eye until the stinging is no longer too much to prevent me keeping the eye open. Once I can keep it open, I then rinse the eye as per normal, looking around in all directions and making sure the eye ball is well bathed. It takes perhaps 1 to 2 minutes per eye at the maximum... although spending longer may well hasten the results. My experience is that my eye balls would get quite red and bloodshot initially. But within a few minutes this clears and the eyes feel VERY soothed, relaxed, and look very clear and bright. The whites become more white than before the rinse was applied. I often do this right before bed, and in the morning my eyes feel noticeably more fresh and clear. It is especially good after a day of using the computer a lot (I am an author and researcher, so extensive screen gazing is common). If my eyes feel irritated, this rinse does wonders. I have no particular eye problems (I'd already naturally reversed eye sight problems I had many years ago), so from personal experience I can only comment on how good it makes my eyes feel and look. My partner's experience was much the same as mine. If you want to know more about the healing benefits of Capsicum, try to find a copy of Dr John Christopher's book Capsicum. I bought it many years ago, and it is a very informative read about this plant and its healing properties. Dr John Christopher had said that if he was for some hypothetical reason only allowed access to ONE herb for treating all illnesses during his career as a herblist, out of all the herbs normally available to him, he would select Capsicum. He considered it the "master herb". >> IN CONCLUSION << If you are looking for a natural way to improve the health of your eyes, I highly recommend this product. Is it guaranteed to "cure" failing eyesight, cataracts, glaucoma, etc.? No it is not, but then neither is ANY other natural or medical treatment. Some things work wonders for some people; give mediocre results for others; and perhaps no results for a few other folk. But are you going to come to any harm trying this out? I see no reason to think so. It's a relatively small investment for what I consider to be a HIGH chance of improving your ocular health. >> EYE CUPS << Obviously you’ll need an eye cup to rinse your eyes with this product. The two I have tried are, Flents Plastic Eye Wash Cup and The Cerami Eye Wash Cup. The Cerami cup, when I bought it in 2012, was made from glass. I prefer glass, but I found the Cerami eyecup was a little too small for me, so it would leak. But I think it is likely fine for most woman, and for men with small to average head size. It was fine for my partner at the time. I ended up buying the Flents plastic cup as it was slightly larger and fits my face structure better. Another option I may whenever I need a new cup is Pro-optics Pro Eye Bath - Glass Eye Wash Cup. >> OTHER SUGGESTIONS THAT MAY BE USEFUL << - The following is not about Herbal Eyebright Extract... so please only read on if you are interested in eye health in general: As a long-standng traditional naturopath I've met a lot of interesting healers and natural health practitioners. One man I knew in the USA would doing tests with MSM. One of his ways to testing the ability of MSM to open up micro-capilary circulation in the body was by using a special video camera that would film into the whites of the eyeball. It sends in a beam of light that makes it possible for the camera to show what is happening under the surface and within the whites of the eyes. Within a less than two minutes of ingesting MSM powder dissolved in water, you can see the capillaries (some of the finest/smallest in the body) flushing with a healthy flow of blood. They would go from looking kind of mangled and messy, to looking healthy, clear, and disentangled. He was not specifically studying the effects of MSM on the eyes, but instead was using the eyes as a view into what MSM does to the fine capillaries in the body. But my own hypothesis is MSM is highly likely to be beneficial to the eyes, and all the other cells in the body. That was also his conclusion after years of studying MSM. I mention this, because taking 5 to 10 grams of MSM a day may also prove to help your eyes (among other things). Research it, and if you like what you discover, try it out. I only recommend OptiMSM which is made in the USA under very strict quality assurance. Most MSM is made in China with questionable purity. The MSM sold under the brand "Ultimate Superfoods" is the cheapest retail source of OptiMSM I am aware of. It's available here: Ultimate Superfoods MSM Powder (16 oz). >> MAGNESIUM: ANOTHER SUGGESTION << I wrote the following in response to one of the comments to this review. I am posting it here as it may prove useful to others. I have found, through experimentation, that a dilute magnesium chloride solution makes a very refreshing and relaxing wash or bath for the eyes. The whole body needs magnesium, and most people are reportedly deficient in it. Many are highly deficient. One of its (vast number of) functions is to help facilitate muscle relaxation. That's what got me thinking it might help the muscles around the eyes. Buy some of this: Dr. Barbara Hendel's Magnesium Oil From the Ancient Zechstein Sea You’ll need an eye cup. See >> EYE CUPS >> above. You'll also need some clean, pure water (non-chlorinated... not tap water). You can buy spring water or even distilled water at many supermarkets and certainly at most health food stores. Fill the eye cup with luke-warm water (around body temp or slightly less). Spray 3 sprays of the Magnesium Oil into the filled cup. Wash your eyes in this. The salinity will be pretty much perfect, so you'll not even feel the wash solution. This makes it easy to look around in the solution for a few minutes (as long as you wish). The magnesium will absorb into the tissues in and around the eyes. ALSO: When I use Christopher’s Eyebright, I usually put one spray of magnesium oil into the cup of solution for each eye. ~ ROSE FOR COOLING THE EYES: AN ADDITIONAL SUGGESTION FOR DAILY USE ~ If you intend to use the John Christopher drops on a regular basis, I highly recommend following it up (each time you use it) with some drops of pure rose water. Here'e one I use and like: Shea Terra Eau de Rose du Moroccan Distillate Water 4 oz.. Put 5 or so drops in each eye. You will find it very refreshing and cooling. The rose water provides a cooling balancing effect to the heating effects of the cayenne in the John Christopher solution. You may find it useful to also get a dropper (for the rose water). Something like this should do the job: Ezy Dose Calibrated Plastic Medicine Dropper Straight Tip, 6934 - 1 ml. I suggest ONLY using it for the rose water, so it does not get contaminated with anything else. ~~ UPDATE DEC 30 2015: I continue to use these drops whenever my eyes feel strained, tired, irritated. Yes, it continues to harmlessly sting, although with regular use I find my eyes get accustomed to it, and I can increase to 6 or 7 drops per eye. If I don’t use it for a few weeks, I’ll need to take it back to 2 to 4 drops. I am updating this review whilst here to buy more of these drops. I wish you all the best of health, Jonathan Evatt - Traditional Naturopath, health coach, and international teacher of healthy living. Award winning author of "Peace, Power, and Presence: Wisdom for a life of freedom".