The comments below reflect the personal experiences and opinions of readers and do not represent medical advice or the views of this website. The information shared has not been evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease or health condition. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional for medical concerns.
Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Renee (Bergen Co., Nj) on 10/05/2011
★★★★★
Twice I have woken up with what appeared to be pink eye. In a small glass bowl, I put about an inch of distilled water and then using a 1/4 tsp measuring spoon, I added several drops of ACV (cheap distilled kind). I wash my hands well and then, leaning over the sink, rinse my eye with the diluted ACV. If I don't feel a slight burn, I add a few more drops of ACV. (I get it just strong enought to burn a little for a few seconds - nothing severe! ) I keep opening my eyes & moving my eyes around to make sure it gets in there. I did both eyes just in case. I then dried my eyes with a tissue. My eyes felt clear after just a few minutes. If after a few minutes, you still feel any irritation or your eye is not completely clear, just repeat the rinse several times.
Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Lisa (Baiting Hollow, New York, Usa) on 08/03/2011
★★★★★
Thanks for the remedy. Fortunately I always have Apple Cider vinegar w/"the mother", in the house and I'm also an "all or nothing" type of gal. I expected my eyes to be burning out of the sockets, but fortunately, the pain was no greater than the worse conjunctivitis I've ever had, so I'm glad you prepared me for the worst! :-) And even happier that is appears to be working already. Eyes became a bit red, but it's subsiding now. I think it may have been a mild reaction for me because I caught it so early. Thanks again! :-)
Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Xpunkxkatx (Los Angelos, California) on 11/24/2010
The reason black tea doesn't work for some but it does for others is it depends if pink eye is from an allergic reaction or from bacteria. So I have read black tea is better for allergic reactions. That's just what I have read. I have it right now and I am going to try the tea tricks.
Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Rebeccamichelle (San Anselmo, Ca, Usa) on 07/01/2010
I tried this cure. It made my pink eye worse. After the burning subsided the itching and grittiness was 10 times worse.
Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Sally_oh (Escazú, San José, Costa Rica) on 12/27/2009
★★★★★
ACV cured my pink eye
I found this cure here at earthclinic and tried it: 1 cup warm water, just enough ACV (with the mother) to discolor the water, maybe a Tablespoon. Wiped the eyes with cotton and dripped a drop into my eye. Burns a lot, but it cured my pink eye.
I was not diligent and it came back so I'm going to start over. I've had this for over a year, starting to think I had a tumor or something... Since it wasn't constant and usually only really hurt when my eyes were dry, I didn't think about it until it started hurting. I'm working online now, so my eyes are dry a lot. The ACV treatment helped so much. Thanks, everyone!
Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Jenk40 (Seattle, Wa, USA) on 08/28/2009
★★★★★
ACV cured my eye infection. First I went to the doctor who prescribed antibiotic eye drops. I took those for 4 days without seeing an improvement. I came to your site to look for natural cures. I tried the black tea compresses first. I'm not sure why but this did actually make the infection first. The next day I tried 1 tsp ACV in a glass of water. I used a cotton ball and soaked it in the ACV mixture, then used it to wash out my eye. I would wash out my eye about once an hour. I have been less diligent about it the last few days, so I think it is taking longer than some others reported, but I have no doubt the eye infection will be cured soon. Thanks Earth clinic for your wonderful site!
Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Wich Doctor (Nashville, Tennessee) on 08/12/2009
★★★★★
Yes, the Apple Cider Vinegar cure is definitely working. To reduce re-contamination especially women need to know that their eyeliners, mascara wands etc. need to be either replaced after each use and each eye one separate product for single use until infection has cleared up. After that you can have a new set of eye make up products to use every day again. I went as far as dipping my eyeliner in vinegar and wiping it off between applications of each eyelid.....that did also save me some money on eye makeup - and I did not have to throw away and replace my expensive products.
Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Veronica (Clearwater, Fl) on 08/02/2009
★★★★★
ACV (with the mother) cures pink eye...it really works!
My husband had a horrible case of pink eye for about 2 weeks or more. His eye was horribly red and he said it felt like sand was in his eye. At one point, he even thought he had lost a contact in his eye because the pain was so bad. He was also sensitive to light. After convincing him that ACV would cure it, he reluctantly allowed me to administer the ACV to his eye. I used 1/2 teaspoon of ACV (with the mother) to 3 tablespoons of purified water. YES, it burned really horribly, but his infection was gone the next day, his eye was white and he has not had a problem since. Obviously, you can use much less vinegar(just enough to tint the water) and it will work that way as well. It just might take a little longer. My husband said that if he was going to feel any pain at all, he would rather just get it over in one sitting instead of spread out over many days. (He's an all or nothing kind of guy...) However, it paid off because we only had to do it once and his eye was as good as new.
P.S. We tried it first without the mother and it did not work, so make sure you get it with the mother.
Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by V (New York, NY) on 07/13/2009
★★★★★
ACV works! I have had the most severe, persistent case of viral conjunctivitis/dry eye for probably over a year now. Anyone who's had it knows that it is a real pain to cure, and comes back VERY easily. I've been to the eye doctor twice in this time and had tests to make sure it's viral, not bacterial, and every time he's said it pretty much amounts to dry eye. And he's prescribed me an exorbitantly expensive, teeny tiny bottle of medication. It worked during the time it was prescribed, but as soon as I'd stop using it, the dry eye would come back full force. This most recent time it has been particularly stubborn. My doctor's gentle approach of "let it cure itself, and use cold/warm compresses and natural tears" was not at all working. I'd tried all that, and other over-the-counter eye drops for "persistent dry eye" and, I swear to you, none of it worked. The one red eye would NOT got away. SO frustrating. And I can't afford to drop tons of money on tiny bottles of medication that I probably shouldn't be using permanently anyway.
So yesterday I tried this: 5 parts water, 2 parts honey (best grade), and 1 part pure apple cider vinegar. I mixed it up, put it in an eyedropper, and started using it every few hours or so (more or less). Always, when I first put it in, it burns quite a bit and my eye waters uncontrollably, and then a minute later there's a noticeable difference. My eye gets whiter. I did it one last time before bed last night and when I woke up, there was much less redness. At the end of today (I've been using it a little less because I didn't need it as much), there is hardly ANY redness. Mind you, my results were not as instantaneous as some other people's, so I had to keep trying. But I am so pleased and can't believe something has finally worked! Yes!
Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Jackie (N. Cal, California) on 07/05/2009
★★★★★
Update on using acv and water for pink eye. Today is the 3rd day and I am 90% cured. No longer sensitive to light and eye is just barely swollen. There is just a bit of redness under the bottom lid but overall I feel great and can acutally read. I expect by tomorrow I will be back to normal. The most important thing though is that within 30 min. the gravely, itchy feeling left and did not come back.
Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Jackie (N. Cal, California) on 07/03/2009
Yesterday I woke up with my eye feeling scratchy and thought I must have done something in my sleep to irritate it. It was itchy and runny all day. Today it dawned on me that I must have pink eye since it felt worse. I have never had it so I was a little slow to figure it out. I went to the drug store and bought a homeopathic "relief" and after using it all day, I had no relief. When I found the acv remedy I immediatly tried it. I have acv with "mother". I put 1/4 tsp. in 1/2 shot glass of water and put a few drops in my eye and used the avc soaked cotton pad to wipe it. It did burn a little but so did the store remedy. It took about 1/2 hr. but already the gravely feeling and weeping has stopped. I just used it again and will continue to use it once an hour. I'll return with an update.
Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Theresa (Borden, IN) on 05/28/2009
If you use 3 tsp of vinegar to 4 Oz of water....you will burn your eye! It is wayyyyyyyy too strong. It should be 1/3 tsp of vinegar to 4 oz of water. This done work for eye infections. I used it myself.
Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Mollyms (San Sebastian, Spain) on 05/10/2009
★★★★★
ACV cured my pink eye. Currently I am an English student studying abroad in Spain and for financial reasons, I dislike going to the doctor unless it is absolutely necessary. I woke up yesterday morning with my right eye stuck shut. Thinking nothing of it, I went about my day, but when I went to take out my contact lenses, I noticed how red my eye was. I tossed out my contacts and went looking for an answer to what I assumed was "pink eye." Sure enough, I guessed correctly. Not wanting to wait for a week until I went home to infect everyone there, and not wanting to go to the doctor here, I started searching for cures. I had a bottle of ACV from trying things earlier and figured it couldn't hurt to try. I put warm tap water, about 6-8 fl oz, in a cup and then poured enough ACV in so that the water was just slightly discolored. I tried to wipe down my eye-the outside to get rid of the mucus-and then drip some of the solution in my eye every 1/2 hour to 45 minutes. 24 hours later, my eye looks white again and I feel confident about sleeping and not waking up with my eye stuck shut!
Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Scooter (Phoenix, AZ) on 05/02/2009
★★★★★
Tried this on my son and it stung some but within minutes it no longer itched. He said the grainy part he felt under his eyelid was completely gone. Will give another application a little later but it looks good so far.
Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by John (Houston, TX) on 03/16/2009
★★★★★
Pinkeye: 3 tsp _____ Apple Cider Vinegar in 4 oz. distilled water. You can use as an eyewash or as drops. Repeat 2 to 3 times daily. Keep eye lids closed for 2 minutes after applying liquid. Sometimes slight smarting occurs. Gets rid of Pink eye in less than 5 mins. Your eye will get red then white as snow.
Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Jennie (Fort Wayne, IN, USA) on 01/10/2009
★★★★★
Apple cider vinegar (with the mother) cleared up my pink eye in less than an hour! I filled a small glass with warm water and added just enough vinegar to where I could see it in the water. Using clean cotton balls for each eye, I rubbed them with the water/vinegar and made sure to get some in each eye and in each tear duct. I waited a half hour or so and did it again and then checked the mirror, they were completely clear after 3+ days of itching and irritaion.
Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Jennie (Cph, DK) on 07/03/2008
★★★★★
I just stopped an eye infection dead in its tracks with Apple Cider Vinegar!
Upon waking yesterday, I could feel that one of my tear ducts was sore, and a bit swollen. A sure sign of an infection coming on, since I have about two eye infections a year. I usually call my doctor, straight away, and she'll end prescripton eye drops to the nearest pharmacy.
Yesterday however, I remembered reading about ACV on this site and decided to give it a go. I tinted a small glass of water with ACV, wet a q-tip with the solution, and held it up to my tear duct for about 10 seconds, every hour or so. It stung mildly, but it was really nothing. By evening it hadn't gotten worse (it would normally be full blown by then), and the next morning (today) it was totally and utterly gone. Am very pleased, needless to say!
Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Stephanie (USA) on 08/09/2007
★★★★★
I read about curing 'pink eye' on your website with ACV. I woke up in the middle of the night last night and I knew I had pink eye. This morning, after reading your suggestions, put 1tbsp. ACV in a glass of water and rinsed both eyes out. It stung like mad for about 5 minutes, I kept my eyes closed and layed down until the stinging stopped. I went back to check my eyes in the mirror and all the pink eye germs, that yellow-gummy-crap had all made it's way to the end of my eyelashes in an attempt to get away from the ACV! I couldn't believe what I was looking at, it was disgusting! Anyway, it worked, no more crusty yellow gummy crap in my eyes. I did the same process two more times just to make sure it was gone! Anyway, it worked and I don't have to go to the doctor so I'm grateful. thanks
