Natural Glaucoma Remedies:
Top 7 Natural Remedies to Treat & Prevent Glaucoma Blindness

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Are there any natural glaucoma remedies that can complement your existing glaucoma treatment? The answer is yes, and I have listed seven of the most important natural glaucoma remedies below.

But before we get into that, let's find out a bit more about glaucoma first.

What is glaucoma and why is it important?

Glaucoma is a condition where there is progressive damage to the optic nerve, usually related to high pressure in the eye. This causes visual field loss and if untreated, eventual blindness.

Glaucoma is the second commonest cause of blindness worldwide, and affects at least 2% of the population. It is a major eye health issue, and the most worrying thing is that most sufferers do not know that they have this condition.This is because you usually do not notice any glaucoma symptoms until a lot of glaucoma damage has already occurred.

Unfortunately, glaucoma cannot be cured or reversed, despite the many claims to the contrary that are widespread throughout the internet. Any vision lost from the optic nerve damage cannot be recovered.

The only proven glaucoma treatment option available currently is to reduce the eye pressure, and this can be achieved through eye drops, laser or surgery.

Please remember that reducing the eye pressure does not cure your glaucoma or fully restore your vision; it only serves to slow down and reduce the risk of further eyesight deterioration. Hence the focus on monitoring: early detection means early glaucoma treatment and less glaucoma blindness.

(Image adapted from the internet)

However, high eye pressure is not the only risk factor for glaucoma. There are other risk factors such as age, family history, genes, and racial origin - these are non-modifiable, and you cannot do anything about these risks.

The good news is that there also exists risk factors that are modifiable. In other words, there are medication-free, natural health and wellness tips that you can incorporate into your lifestyle to reduce your glaucoma risk.

However, these cannot replace the glaucoma treatment that your eye specialist has prescribed for you.

Here I list 7 natural glaucoma remedies and supplements that can help prevent and reduce your risk of glaucoma blindness. These should complement, not replace, your existing glaucoma treatments.

SEE RELATED: Natural glaucoma vitamins for your optic nerve

1. Avoid cigarette smoke to reduce toxins

Smoking is a significant risk factor for many eye and general health problems. Eye conditions that can worsen with cigarette smoking include cataract, age-related macular degeneration, uveitis, and retinal vein occlusions.

Nicotine is a vasoconstrictor which constricts the blood vessels. This could potentially slow down aqueous outflow from the anterior chamber drainage angle and also restrict the amount of blood flow to the optic nerve. In addition, the eye pressure has been shown to increase by over 5 mmHg after cigarette smoking.

Cigarette smoke also contains many harmful chemicals, such as tobacco-specific N-nitrosamines (TSNAs), benzene, pesticides, arsenic, cadmium, cyanide, and many many more. These toxins circulate all around the body and cause oxidative damage to the optic nerve and worsen your glaucoma.

Population-based studies have confirmed that smoking is associated with higher eye pressure and increased risk of glaucoma. In my opinion, cutting down on smoking is one of the most important natural glaucoma remedies.

2. Limit steroid medication use

Steroid medications, whether in the form of a pill or nasal spray or skin cream, can cause the eye pressure to increase (this is called a 'steroid response'). Steroids are the commonest medication-related cause of glaucoma and cataract.

If you are taking steroids and are worried about your risk of glaucoma, please discuss with your family doctor or treating specialist about any alternatives to steroid medication.

3. Regular exercise to improve circulation and reduce rate of glaucoma field loss

The results from some research studies suggest that aerobic exercise 3 times a week for at least 30 to 45 minutes each time is able to lower your eye pressure by around 20% on average. This pressure lowering effect disappears if you stop your exercise for 2 weeks or more.

Walking at least 5,000 steps daily (or equivalent exercise) improves blood circulation and may be able to reduce the risk of progressive visual field deterioration. In fact, boosting exercise levels each day, such as by walking an additional 5,000 steps, performing an extra 2.6 hours of non-sedentary activity, or exercising for 120 minutes at a moderate-to-vigorous level, was able to reduce the average rate of visual field loss by around 10%.

Note that not every type of exercise is good. Vigorous high-impact exercises may cause more pigment release from the iris, resulting in an increase in eye pressure.

In addition, exercises involving head-down or inverted positions, such as in yoga, are likely to raise the eye pressure and may lead to additional damage to the optic nerve.

4. Meditation to reduce eye pressure

Meditation has been shown to be able to reduce stress and blood pressure, both being risk factors for high eye pressure.

A randomized clinical trial from India has confirmed that mindfulness meditation practised for 1 hour every day for 3 weeks (at the same time continuing with the prescribed glaucoma medications) significantly reduced eye pressure, decreased stress levels, and improved quality of life.

Meditation is free, safe, and has no risk of any harmful effects. I highly recommend meditation as a natural glaucoma remedy to my patients. It can be difficult to do at the beginning, but the clinical evidence is strong, so the effort will definitely be worthwhile.

5. Eat a healthy and balanced diet for glaucoma

Good nutrition and a healthy diet are important to maintain overall eye health. In glaucoma, the stressed optic nerve will be more prone to the damaging effects of oxidative free radicals damage.

For your diet to be effective as a natural glaucoma remedy, you should ensure that your foods contain plenty of antioxidants, such as vitamin A (carrots, apricots, papayas), vitamin C (berries, citrus fruits, tomatoes), vitamin E (avocados, green leafy vegetables, fish) and zinc (whole bran, eggs, peanuts).

A large population-based study of over 100,000 participants (The Nurses Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-up Study) reported that a higher intake of nitrate-rich foods and leafy green vegetables reduced glaucoma risk by over 20%. 

A separate population-based study in the United States (the Study of Osteoporotic Fractures Research Group) reported that those who consumed 3 or more servings of fruit per day were 79% less likely to have glaucoma. Furthermore, those who ate more than one serving per week of leafy green vegetables (collard greens and kale), decreased their odds of having glaucoma by over 50%.

6. Supplements to prevent further glaucoma damage by complementing existing glaucoma treatment

a) Nutravision Eye Defence+ (Australia)

(Disclaimer: I am part of the team of leading Australian clinicians, scientists and naturopaths that formulated and developed Nutravision Eye Defence+)

In my admittedly biased opinion, Nutravision Eye Defence+ is the most advanced overall vision health supplement currently available globally for glaucoma.

It combines many of the individual glaucoma supplements (or its equivalent alternative) listed below and more.

The ingredients in the formula are bilberry (anthocyanins), ginkgo biloba, grape seed (proanthocyanidins), L-methylfolate (activated folate), lutein, methylcobalamin (activated vitamin B12), nicotinamide (active vitamin B3), pyruvate, saffron, and zeaxanthin.

Individually, each of these 10 powerful ingredients already confers their own unique clinically proven benefits on glaucoma (and also macular degeneration and diabetic eye disease).

But when taken together, what you get is the most potent, synergistic and comprehensive neuroprotection for glaucoma the world has ever seen.

Now that Nutravision Eye Defence+ is available, to me it is a no-brainer seeing as it contains the clinically most important nutrients for glaucoma. I recommend it to my all patients for glaucoma neuroprotection without hesitation.

The reasons?

1. Convenience. Some of my patients are taking multiple individual ingredients separately; which is equivalent to taking at least 8 capsules or tablets every day. With Nutravision Eye Defence+, the clinical dosing is 2 capsules daily, which is a lot more palatable and convenient.

2. Reassurance. Nutravision Eye Defence+ is manufactured in Australia conforming to the highest international standards, using practitioner grade and quality assured ingredients sourced globally, at the required clinical doses specifically for glaucoma (and AMD). There is no guesswork anymore for clinicians or patients.

If like me, you feel that it is important to augment your current glaucoma treatment and further reduce your glaucoma risk naturally, then Nutravision Eye Defence+ is without doubt the best option in my opinion.

b) Vitamin supplements

Currently, the long term benefit of high-dose nicotinamide (Insolar by Blackmores) at a dose of 3,000mg daily is currently being researched in Melbourne.

If Insolar is not available for you, then any other Vitamin B3 nicotinamide should be fine as long as you purchase from a reputable supplement manufacturer.

READ NEXT: Natural glaucoma treatment with vitamin B3 (nicotinamide)

Vitamin B12 (methylcobalamin) is a water-soluble vitamin. It is important for DNA regulation, red blood cell production, and helps with the function of our nervous system.

Our body does not produce vitamin B12 naturally, and so we rely on food consumption for vitamin B12. Vitamin B12 is found in food sources such as eggs, milk, fish, and meat.

Glaucoma is of course a type of optic neuropathy, and naturally there is interest in whether methylcobalamin (the activated and most highly absorbed form of vitamin B12) could potentially be beneficial for glaucoma.

Research from Japan found that 1,500 micrograms (or 1.5 mg) oral methylcobalamin daily for 4 years could decrease visual field deterioration in low pressure glaucoma.

Vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol) is a fat-soluble vitamin with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. It is naturally found in vegetable oils and animal fats. Research has found alpha-tocopherol to improve blood flow to the eye and to reduce visual field deterioration if taken for at least 6 to 12 months.

READ NEXT: Natural glaucoma vitamins for your optic nerve

c) Herb and plant extracts

Bilberry and blackcurrant contain anthocyanin flavonoids that are both antioxidant and anti-inflammatory. Studies conducted in South Korea and Japan have shown that both bilberry and blackcurrant extract could help to slow visual field deterioration in glaucoma, particularly normal tension glaucoma.

Forskolin is an active compound found in the root of the Indian coleus (Coleus forskohlii) plant. Studies of forskolin and glaucoma have found a reduction in eye pressure and improvement in visual function with regular intake of supplements containing forskolin.

The main risk of ginkgo biloba is the potential increased risk of bleeding. The scientific evidence for this is conflicting, with some case reports of severe bleeding from ginkgo, while other systematic reviews and meta-analyses have found no increase in bleeding risk.

At present, I only recommend ginkgo biloba to my patients if they are not on any blood-thinning medications.

SEE RELATED: Ginkgo biloba as a natural glaucoma treatment

Mirtogenol has a very good safety profile. However, it can theoretically increase the risk of bleeding and hypoglycemia (low blood sugar).

I do recommend Mirtogenol to my patients who need better eye pressure control, but with caution for those taking blood thinning or diabetes medications.

SEE RELATED: Mirtogenol as a natural glaucoma treatment

d) Supplements similar to naturally occurring molecules

Research from Italy reported slowing of glaucoma progression with daily supplementation of citicoline 500 mg daily. Clinical trials have not reported any major or serious adverse effects from taking oral citicoline.

I highly recommend citicoline to my patients who show signs of glaucoma progression despite good eye pressure control.

SEE RELATED: Citicoline as a natural glaucoma treatment

PEA has similar properties to the active chemical in marijuana, but it is safe to take with no major adverse effects reported in clinical trials. This means that PEA has a lot of the benefits of cannabis but without any of the side effects.

PEA taken as an oral supplement 600 mg daily has been shown in clinical trials to be able to provide significant additional eye pressure reduction in glaucoma patients who are already on eye drop therapy.

I highly recommend palmitoylethanolamide to my patients for its ability to reduce eye pressure and to also potentially preserve the visual field.

SEE RELATED: Palmitoylethanolamide as a glaucoma treatment

If you wish to combine your glaucoma treatment with the above supplements to prevent and reduce your risk of glaucoma blindness, below are highly-rated and recommended products that are available for you to purchase through Amazon:

7. Regular monitoring by qualified eyecare professionals

In glaucoma, the damage to the optic nerve tends to occur slowly (but surely). You are unlikely to notice the glaucoma symptoms of progressive visual field loss until it is too late.

You will be able to compensate and cope with your gradually worsening sight until one day you realize that your peripheral vision is actually pretty bad. By this stage, the damage to your optic nerve will be so advanced and no amount of treatment will able to help.

You should get your eyes checked by your optometrist or your ophthalmologist, ideally every 1 to 2 years. Monitoring visits can be more frequent if you have several glaucoma risk factors.

Monitoring visits should include intraocular pressure measurements, optic disc evaluation, visual field testing and imaging scans if appropriate. Remember that the aim of monitoring is to pick up early signs of glaucoma damage before any significant sight loss and glaucoma symptoms develop.

Final word on natural treatments and supplements for glaucoma

The natural glaucoma remedies and supplements described above must not replace the glaucoma treatment that has already been prescribed by your eye specialist. Rather, these remedies should be in addition to and complementary to your existing treatment.

If you are considering natural glaucoma remedy supplements, please make sure to discuss with your eye specialist and family doctor first to avoid adverse drug interactions and unwanted side effects.

READ NEXT: The five best glaucoma supplements for your optic nerve