Re: Pinguecula --let's talk about it!

Hi Jasper,

My research has been focused more on pinguecula, but perhaps there's something you can glean here. It's been my understanding in reading that pinguecula and pterygium are separate conditions, but it does appear they could have similar causes and/or treatments. It would not surprise me if they are both liver-related. I believe everyone can benefit from liver health. If you don't mind, I'm going to copy and paste a note I sent to someone on here who reached out to me recently, too. I hope what I wrote here is helpful in some way for you. I apologize in advance for the length:

"I'm no doctor or naturopath, but there's so much negativity and fear online about this condition [pinguecula], that I hope positive comments should be refreshing to you. I'll say upfront, the silly thing is still there in my eye, but it doesn't bother me like it did and I have seen less and less inflammation periods and have figured out some things to reduce general day-to-day redness (listed in my original post, which you read). And I'll also share my hypothesis on what I believe will eventually cure the dang thing.

I noticed the pinguecula in my right eye back in September of 2013, with a much smaller one in my left. A few days later, the opthamologist confirmed it and I literally broke down into tears in his office because of all the fear-filled crap I'd researched online (it's uncurable, surgery will ruin your eye and it may not even work, it's going to turn into a pterygium, it will only get bigger, etc.). He probably thought I was crazy as it was not inflamed that day nor is it particularly noticeable without their magnifying equipment. After that traumatizing week, I was devastated and thought everyone could see them (they couldn't). I couldn't look people in the eyes for months. I was OBSESSED with researching cures to the point it was affecting my productivity at work, yet all the sources I seemed to find said the cause was "dust, wind, chronic irritation, etc." Everything also said it tends to happen in middle-aged to elderly people which made no sense because I was 27 at the time. I can't say I'm the super outdoorsy type, so I don't believe it was from UV rays. It did seem to appear around a time that I'd been consistently sleeping with a very strong electric fan at night, as I turned into a human furnace when I slept (at least at that time, which I later discovered was liver linked). So I concluded that I probably slept with my eyes partially open so this "eye callous" decided to appear over time under the oppression of that fan.

A few weeks later I consulted a naturopath to see if he knew of the condition and what to try. If you've ever been to a naturopath, they always "know the cure". I mean, it's in their best interest, money and all. Not saying they're all quacks, this guy has done great things for other conditions. So the short story is, he didn't "cure" it, however, I do agree with him and the general idea that ANYTHING can be cured with proper nutrition (as well as divine help, but I'll get into that later). The naturopath dude believed the pinguecula was linked to the liver and that over a few months of his healthy recommended living it would slowly shrink up and disappear. So after some sobering blood work which the naturopath interpreted to show I had fatty liver, the very beginning stage on the path to cirrhosis, I "sobered up" nutritionally. I had been eating like absolute garbage when the pinguecula cropped up and before going to him: gluten on gluten on gluten, sugar, and cow dairy like nobody's business. I was also drinking alcohol responsibly in moderation, but somehow I would end up with a horrible hangover the next day even after just one drink! I will say, a few years before that in my early twenties I drank way too heavily for a 5'0, 110 lb. woman. I would black out and throw up bile. Let's just say, I know I set my liver up for some heartache and the hangover reactions that later started after one drink were due to my liver being absolutely full of fat and gunk. I also, in my younger years took a lot of powerful powerful Antibiotics due to ear infections, which also wreaked havoc on my liver. Oh, and I was a Diet Coke addict since high school. I can't even begin to tell you how much Diet Coke I've drank in my life. Sorry if you already know about fatty liver, but I'm telling you this to show you how my food choices, medications, and lifestyle had affected my liver. It also caused the extreme heat in my sleep, hence the needed nightly ceiling fan to cool my temperature. After about a year of very strict adherence to a whole unprocessed Blood Type Diet and countless supplements, I saw a reduction in inflammation but not the yellow glob part of the pinguecula and decided I needed to stop spending money on his services and try some things on my own. I still take some of his supplements and I eat healthfully, but I'm not as extreme as he wanted me to be. I don't regret going to him because he helped me understand the importance of the liver and got me on the right track, nutritionally.

Many people in this country have fatty liver and have no idea. "In shape" people, too! It comes from excessive Sugar (even fructose), alcohol, western medicine (this is a big one), environmental toxins (car exhaust, household cleaners, using plastic and teflon to cook, etc.), and calorie consumption. It's so easy to be ignorant of the state of your liver because you can't feel it and you can't see it. That's why it's ignorant for people who are "thin" to eat garbage... there are unseen repercussions to every food and lifestyle choice we make. I say ALL that about the liver to say that, under the influence of the naturopath, I started to hypothesize that, yes, the liver and the eyes could be linked and that perhaps the drying ceiling fan only aggravated and inflamed the pinguecula that was already forming on its own due to the fatty liver or some other sort of liver weakness. I proceeded to find a handful of resources online, mostly in the Traditional Chinese Medicine line of thinking, that indicated pinguecula was caused by liver weakness. It makes a lot of sense to me. Did you happen to see this naturopath's response to my post (I posted the same post across three forums)? She basically said what I'm saying:

//www.curezone.org/forums/fm.asp?i=2222145#i

She has iridology qualifications (study of the eye) and recommends doing gallbladder flushes, which is a yucky process, yet a soothing tonic for healing the liver (look up how to do one). I need to do one soon. She also recommends a vegan diet. I'm not sure if I feel that's the best way or maybe something along the paleo/mediterranean diet lines. I cannot decide which is best, but I know both can make you feel great and give your body the tools to heal itself.

Basically my theory on curing this pinguecula thing naturally is taking really great care of your liver and body. Treating the body holistically. It may take longer than we want. It may take consistency. But I believe it's possible. If you just treat the pinguecula or anything really, topically (like with a ointment, eyebright washes, or a surgery), you're not really addressing the root source, right? So here's the approach I'm taking: good nutrition. A whole unprocessed anti-inflammatory diet. Love on the liver! Apples, artichokes, lemon water, dandelion root and dandelion tea, to name a few. No alcohol (even reducing consumption can help considerably). Alkalizing food. Veggies. Low Sugar and grain and minimal gluten. Eat no chemicals (high fructose corn syrup, saccharine, aspartame, processed food, food dyes, etc.) and reduce environmental toxins as much as possible. Like I said, some folks are in the vegan camp, some are in the paleo-esque camp. Good whole food supplements, including liver supplements (milkthistle, etc.), curcumin/turmeric which has powerful anti-inflammatory. Vitamin C is very important... you basically can't overdose on Vitamin C and it's powerful for healing the body. Oh and stay hydrated with water. You may already eat healthy, actually you probably do if you visit Curezone, but if you don't it's something to really consider. I'm talking about consistent healthy eating, not going crazy every weekend. It can only help the pinguecula and not hurt.

A few more things that won't cure, but can address general redness and "inflammation episodes" (where it's red for like a week) and also help prevent the thing from growing: I may have said this in my post, but sleeping with a humidifier and eye mask helps a ton. No ceiling fan and minimal a/c (cold air is very dry). I stopped doing the eyebright eyewashes. They were annoying to do everyday, but I've read testimonies from people who say it helps so if you have advanced pinguecula maybe you want to try it (mine aren't so advanced)? I might give it another shot soon. I do use moisturizing eyedrops—a brand called Retaine. I use both the Retaine HPMC as well as the Retaine MGD (this one is uber moisturizing). While expensive, they are hands down the best eyedrops. I use them once a day. The naturopath told me to avoid eyedrops because of the pharmeucetical chemicals, but finally I decided I don't care what he thinks about that. At least until the thing goes away. Only sufferers can truly understand the condition and I was tired of dry eyes with no relief, especially when the pinguecula went through one of its angry inflammation periods. The chemicals aren't ideal, but I've found the natural eye drops (Similasan and the like) don't work. Whatever you do, DO NOT use Visine or any vaso-constricting "whitening" type product. They will worsen the condition. The number one thing I found to avoid redness is to really watch the caffeine. I only drink a cup or less a day of coffee and no more. Coffee is also a vasoconstrictor, and I've found that when I've overdosed it will cause an inflaming episode and it will be inflamed for up to a week and a half. The second most important thing is sufficient sleep. I try to wear sunglasses when it's windy or particularly bright. But I do believe a certain amount of sunlight is good for our eyes, skin, and circadian rhythm. As a surfer, I'm sure you've noticed how good it feels after a day of being in the sun and near the ocean.

So, I hope all that information encouraged you and didn't frustrate. I will keep you updated as I continue my journey. I truly believe proper nutrition gives your body what it needs to heal itself. Yeah, maybe my arid conditions or your surfing hobby has contributed to the condition, but I absolutely do not believe it is the root case. We will figure it out and in the mean time, there are things I've listed above that can help you cope and keep the eyes comfortable. Please let me know if there's anything you've found that helps!

I hope I don't offend you with this, but this is what keeps me so positive about the pinguecula and staying healthy in general: Jesus. God is the ultimate healer. He created the plants on earth. He knows what our bodies need to heal. He can heal us divinely (and does heal people to this day, not just in the New Testament times), but he's also provided us the tools here on earth to heal ourselves: nutrition... water... herbs to name a few (not a certain kind of herb, haha). Unfortunately, modern money-hungry pharmaceutical companies have shifted the focus off the healing properties of REAL nutrition (not this food pyramid crap) by making us focus on substances that can be patented for money—medicine. Both prescription and OTC medicine. They don't want to look into things that can't be patented such as proper nutrition, herbal supplements and whole food supplements, and healthy lifestyle changes. They want to pump us full of medicine which will make us sicker and then provide more medicine that "cure" the conditions caused by the first medicine. Let me add the disclaimer that I do believe there are times western medicine should be used, it's not to be totally avoided. But the focus on medicine has gotten ridiculous in this country.

You're probably, no definitely, tired of reading by now and maybe you even think I'm crazy, but I have to say it was therapeutic to write this because I got so fed up of hearing there's no cure for x condition and I'm not just talking about the pinguecula. Since starting my new health regime back in October 2013, I've only come down with something once (aside from the still present pinguecula). I got strep throat when and the reason I got sick was because I went to Germany on a mission trip and then was completely run down from lack of sleep only to hop on a plane for 10 hours home. Only sick once in over a year—just a testimony to show the power of nutrition and clearing the sludge outta your liver. Now when everyone at the office starts coming down with something, I literally don't even flinch because I know the way I eat and live really helps.

“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.”
― Hippocrates

"And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations."
—Revelation 22:2

"There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love."
—I John 4:18


P.S. I'm sorry to extend this note, but I've recently been looking into the concept of Water Fasting (no food, only water for a period of time). Not only does it coincide with practices in my faith, but I have read there are healing properties to be experienced when on an extended water fast. Do a little research on it. And check out this blog post below and then do a search on the page for the word "pinguecula". You'll find the poster commented that Water Fasting helped clear up a majority of his pinguecula. Exciting stuff, right? But oh, 10 days without food... I do plan on trying it, but it'll take some strategic planning with my job and busy life. You'll also encounter content on the "dangers" of fasting. You want to be smart about it, but people have been doing it for hundreds of years.

http://dontwastethecrumbs.com/2013/02/10-day-water-fast/

Blessings,
Brittany"
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