Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) is a simple compound with a remarkable blend of therapeutic properties that allows it to treat a wide range of conditions including:
• Numerous neurological disorders (e.g., strokes, dementia, paralysis, neuropathies, Down syndrome, and circulatory disorders (e.g., Raynaud’s, varicose veins, hemorrhoids)) — are discussed here.
• Tissue injuries, such as sprains, concussions, burns, surgical incisions, and spinal cord injuries — are discussed here.
• Chronic pain (e.g., from a bad disc, bursitis, arthritis, or complex regional pain syndrome) — are discussed here.
• Autoimmune, protein, and contractile disorders, such as scleroderma, amyloidosis, and interstitial cystitis — are discussed here.
• Head conditions, such as tinnitus, dental problems, and sinusitis — are discussed here.
• Internal organ diseases (e.g., prostate enlargement, pancreatitis, and cirrhosis) — are discussed here.
• Respiratory disorders, including asthma, COPD, and pulmonary fibrosis — are discussed here.
• Many different gastrointestinal disorders, such as bowel inflammation, cirrhosis, and pancreatitis — are discussed here.
• Skin conditions (e.g., hair loss, varicose veins, acne, ulcers, skin cancer, or psoriasis) — are discussed here.
• Infections, such as onychomycosis, herpes, and shingles, are remarkably treatable when combined with an antimicrobial agent — are discussed here.
• Many aspects of cancer (e.g., eliminating cancers, enhancing chemotherapy, and reducing the toxicity of mainstream cancer treatments) — are discussed here.
Because of how effective DMSO was for a wide range of “incurable” conditions, when it was discovered in the 1960s, it rapidly took America by storm and became the most demanded drug in the country — at which point the FDA did everything they could to suppress it (e.g., see this 1980 segment 60 minutes did on DMSO). Regretfully, this was successful, and decades later, DMSO’s remarkable properties, which could have reshaped medicine, were largely forgotten.
However, due to the new political climate we entered — widespread loss of trust in medical authorities and the mass media for their handling of COVID-19 (which allowed the alternative media to rise to prominence) — an unprecedented window was created for unorthodox therapies to gain prominence. As such, over the last year, my attempts to promote the vast body of evidence behind DMSO went viral, and there is now a similar interest in DMSO to what was seen in the 1960s.
Because of this, I have now received over 5,000 reports from readers1 who’ve benefitted from DMSO (which I compiled here), most of which match the effects typically attributed to DMSO (rapid healing from an injury and/or elimination of debilitating pain). However, I also come across some that are quite extraordinary, such as this 75 year old man who regained sight in his eye after being blind since birth after using DMSO to eliminate a chronic sinus infection.
This 75 year old who’d been blind since birth suddenly regained his sight after using DMSO to cure sinusitis.
DMSO has been repeatedly shown to heal eye issues medicine still can’t solve like blindness and macular degeneration along with eliminating floaters and cataracts by… pic.twitter.com/8jyF48INX3
— A Midwestern Doctor (@MidwesternDoc) October 25, 2025
Note: The journalist who filmed this interview previously filmed her neighbor with terminal COPD recovering with nebulized DMSO.
Murray’s story (and hundreds more I’ve received from readers) illustrates one of the least appreciated facets of DMSO — it is exceptionally well suited to treating a wide range of eye conditions — many of which are considered incurable within conventional medicine.
Note: The German DMSO community (including DMSO utilizing ophthalmologists) has reported very similar results to those shared with me by readers when using DMSO to treat the eyes.
DMSO and the Eyes
“Ophthalmologist Norbert J. Becquet, M.D. reported in May 1980 that he had great success using DMSO in treating cataracts and other eye problems. ‘I’ve treated two hundred patients in the last year for macular degeneration, macular edema, and traumatic uveitis.’”
Note: DMSO has been repeatedly shown to enhance the penetration of drugs into the eyes,2,3,4,5 potentiate certain ocular medications (e.g., anesthetic eye drops6 or 5-IDU to treat shingles)7 and authors have proposed using these combinations to enhance the efficacy of ophthalmologic medications and bypass the need to inject them into the eyes.8 Likewise, doctors like Norbert Becquet used topical DMSO nutraceutical combinations to treat otherwise “incurable” eye conditions.9
DMSO’s uses for the eyes originally emerged after participants in early clinical trials noted that their vision frequently improved when an unrelated issue was being treated (due to DMSO’s tendency to concentrate within the eyes). Likewise, readers here have frequently reported that vision significantly improves after DMSO is applied to another part of the body — particularly the neck (which is likely due to its blood supply being closer to the eyes).
Note: Due to the intense scrutiny DMSO was subjected to, its safety within the eyes was extensively studied — after which no one detected eye toxicity. For example, a JAMA publication attested to DMSO’s eye safety,10 and in a study where DMSO was applied to the eyes of 108 patients11 — including those with numerous pre-existing eye diseases — no side effects occurred besides a concentration dependent temporary irritation of the eyes.
I will now review how DMSO makes it suited to treat a wide range of disorders on the surface of the eyes.
Peripheral Eye Issues
“My mother (100 yrs old) fell three weeks ago.12 When she fell, she broke her nose and fractured a couple of orbital bones — one around each eye — which resulted in terrible black bruising due to her blood thinner medication. She spent 6 days in the hospital and my sister and I visited her everyday. After applying daily DMSO, the bruises rapidly changed color, and in three days they began to fade and then completely disappeared.”
Due to DMSO’s ability to rapidly heal injuries, relax muscles, and reduce skin inflammation, it is well-suited for treating a wide range of issues around the eyes. Studies in turn have shown:
• DMSO combined with iodine safely treated inflammatory eye conditions13,14,15,16 (e.g., in 17 patients with blepharitis and blepharoconjunctivitis all had a partial or complete response to it17).
• In children with eyelid styes, DMSO reduced swelling and pain.18
• DMSO treated inflammatory diseases of the eyelids.19
“I have a really complicated eye history [including] having blepharitis many times that left my eyelids inflamed for a very long time.20 I’ve now had inflammation on my eyelids for over a year. It’s almost gone in [after] about a week of DMSO.”
Likewise, many readers have reported DMSO treats issues around the eyes (e.g., for bags and wrinkles,21 blepharitis22,23,24 psoriasis25,26 styes,27,28,29 burns,30,31 milia,32 cellulitis,33 skin tags and pedicules,34,35).
“After reading your articles I tried DMSO on a huge eye stye my husband has, a recurring issue that no doctor had been able to fix.36 In less than 24 hours it went from the size of a large pea to near gone.”
“I have used DMSO even on the lower lids of my eyes, at 25%, with astonishing success in treating a chemical/heat burn [hot tar while fighting a fire] that troubled me for about ten years, AND IT RESOLVED ABRUPTLY.”37
Finally, DMSO’s ability to relax muscles likely accounts for many of its therapeutic properties (e.g., chronically tight muscles distort focusing and many readers have reported they no longer needed to wear eye glasses after using DMSO). Likewise:
• One reader reported being able to treat superior oblique myokymia, a rare “untreatable” eye condition where that muscle will spontaneously twitch, distorting vision, fatigue the eyes, and making it impossible to drive.38
• James Miller M.D. has reported successfully curing chronic eye twitches with DMSO.39
• Using DMSO in conjunction with eye exercises has been reported to dramatically improve their efficacy.
Corneal and Conjunctival Disorders
DMSO’s therapeutic properties and its tendency to concentrate within the cornea make it well-suited to healing issues at the surface of the eyes, particularly since DMSO, being an acetylcholine esterase inhibitor, also stimulates parasympathetic activity (which increases tear secretion) and reduces duct inflammation or obstruction (also increasing tear secretion).
Because of this, many readers have reported remarkable results for eye dryness40,41,42,43,44,45,46,47,48,49,50,51 (including severe cases from Parkinson’s,52 severe mast cell activation disorder which had eroded the surface of the cornea,53 or previous chemotherapy54).These include:
“I have suffered from severe dry eye for years.55 (I’ve had to have Meibomian Gland Probing done twice for my condition, in addition to numerous other treatments). I am having a [very] positive experience using daily DMSO eye drops, I find I need much less commercial eye drops and I am very hopeful about the continued benefit of the DMSO drops.”
“It takes care of my chronic dry eyes for 6 to 8 hrs.”56
“I no longer have dry eye syndrome in that eye.”57
“I’ve been using DMSO in my eyes for more than a year now. Slowly increasing the strength.58 Even at [low doses] it’s life changing! No more dry eyes or eye infections. Better vision. For anyone who is hesitant, start slowly and ‘see’ 🤣 the amazing results.”
Likewise, many readers have also reported less blurriness,59,60,61 reduced eye strain62,63,64 (particularly from screens), and the eyes feeling refreshed.65,66 I have also seen numerous reports of DMSO healing debilitating corneal injuries like this readers:
“For decades, I experienced mysterious, intermittent left eye pain [which] contributed to regular severe sleep disruption.67 After seeing 12 doctors, they finally discovered I had corneal injury from a piece of glass getting stuck in there for a few days in 1974, but had nothing to offer me. After starting DMSO because of your article, the pain finally went away and I could sleep. Tests this week also showed the eye’s tear production recovered. Thank you AMD!”
Note: I have also received reports of DMSO rapidly treating conjunctivitis,68 a conjunctival cyst,69 and a pterygium70 (which incidentally resulted from applying DMSO to the neck).
DMSO’s unique properties (e.g., its ability to remove edema and pathologic protein deposits) can also address a few challenging corneal issues for which there are currently no viable therapeutic options. For example:
• Gelatinous drop-like corneal dystrophy is a rare genetic eye disorder where amyloids build up just beneath the corneal epithelium (progressively clouding it, and impairing vision) that is difficult to treat (requiring corneal transplantation once it progresses — which can then be followed by recurrences). Extensive research shows DMSO eliminates amyloids, and in one case report,71 DMSO was found to eliminate the amyloid which had accumulated after a corneal transplant.
• One of the early DMSO studies repeatedly found DMSO treated corneal edema.72
• Likewise, three readers shared they used it for Fuch’s dystrophy (an incurable eye disorder where the cornea swells with fluid, causing gradual vision loss). Of them, one reported it significantly reduced corneal edema and improved their vision, one reported the same (but did not have a formal diagnosis), while a third reported they’d begun trying it, but weren’t yet sure if it was helping.73,74
• One reader reported DMSO rapidly cleared a corneal deposit in her 15-year-old Boston terrier.
Finally, in both the reports I received and those I’ve seen throughout the DMSO community, users frequently report that DMSO “cleans their eyes out” and makes vision much sharper and clearer. This likely comes from DMSO removing insoluble protein aggregates (from the cornea, lens, or vitreous) or its reviving retinal function — something DMSO is uniquely suited to do in a noninvasive manner.
Note: DMSO has a unique ability to refold and eliminate misfolded proteins (e.g., amyloids), including opaque ones that accumulate within the eyes. In turn, one of the most common things readers report is DMSO treating floaters (and in almost all cases, the treatment being successful), followed by cataracts — which likely accounts for many of the instances where DMSO appears to clean the eyes out.
Additionally, one reader noted this clearing of the eyes could be externally observed with (as the sickly look hadn’t returned), suggesting DMSO can increase the eye’s ability to absorb the critical spectrums in natural light (particularly since other studies have shown DMSO increases the skin’s ability to transmit light).
Inflammatory and Infectious Conditions
DMSO’s potent anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties make it well suited for treating a variety of conditions throughout the eye and often to do so in a safer and more potent manner than existing treatments (e.g., in one clinical trial, 30% DMSO was found to have therapeutic anti-inflammatory effects on the eye similar to 0.01% dexamethasone75).
In turn, numerous studies show DMSO eliminates challenging inflammation and infection on the surface of the eye. For example, DMSO has repeatedly been shown to be an effective treatment for chronic superficial keratitis (CSK), which over time, can reduce eye inflammation without any adverse effects to the corneal epithelium76,77 and in many cases, to be a superior CSK treatment to steroids.78,79 For example:
• In dogs with CSK, 50% DMSO combined with dexamethasone or prednisolone was found to be a much more effective treatment than either alone (e.g., it effectively reduced corneal inflammation and improved corneal transparency).80,81,82,83,84
• In dogs, DMSO has also been shown to safely treat CSK in combination with cyclosporine.85 Significant benefit has also been seen from combining DMSO with both dexamethasone and cyclophosphamide (e.g., a 77.9% to 90.7% reduction in neovascularization, a 45% to 51% reduction in corneal surface inflammation, 72.9% of corneas had a reduction in pigmentation, 74.3% had an increase of transparency, and 95.4% had a repigmentation of the nictitating membrane).86
Note: Another dog CSK study found DMSO and tacrolimus halved inflammatory infiltration and neovascularization of the cornea,87 while another found similar results with picrolimus and DMSO.88
Likewise, DMSO and penicillin treated calves infectious keratoconjunctivitis.89
• Topical DMSO and itraconazole was able to resolve chronic (fungal) keratomycosis in 80% of treated horses.90
• Likewise, a horse with fungal ulcerative keratitis fully recovered with DMSO and fluconazole.91,92
Note: DMSO has been extensively shown to treat ocular inflammation (e.g., uveitis, iritis, and episcleritis) and associated complications (e.g., synechia).
Eye Injuries and Trauma
DMSO has been repeatedly shown to protect tissue throughout the body from a variety of injuries, and does the same for the eyes:
• In rabbits, 3 days, 20% DMSO was found to significantly reduce the corneal opacification and ulcerations that followed alkali burns.93
• In multiple studies, DMSO was found to be an effective treatment for corneal acid burns from hydrofluoric acid94,95 (and also for hydrofluoric acid burns on other parts of the body).96
• In another study,97 DMSO was combined with monomycin to treat corneal burns.98
Likewise, many readers have reported that DMSO has healed a variety of eye injuries:
“I was kicked in my eye by our puppy, 50 lbs and strong, did serious damage and was legally blind seeing double, no progress healing for a month.99 So I found a DMSO recipe and my vision was restored. I’m no expert, it worked for me and quick. I had 80% healing in days, a good part of that in 24 hours. Month previous, as stated, I was not improving at all.”
“Many years ago my mother-in-law burst a blood vessel in her eye.100 After trying allopathic approaches with the MD, we made her [eye] drops containing DMSO. In mere days, the eye returned to normal.”
Likewise, a month ago, a friend injured their eye by cliff jumping from quite a height and not shielding their eye when they hit the water (resulting in the eye being filled with blood). Once my friend decided to use DMSO, we saw the eye rapidly heal and the blood within it leave … after which they repeated the same jump, again did not correctly shield their eye, and then healed the eye again with DMSO.
I have also received numerous remarkable reports of pets with injured eyes that would normally be removed instead have a complete recovery like these:
• This cat had its eye scratched, after which the vet said the necrotic eye needed to be urgently removed.101 While they raised money for the operation, they tried flushing the eye with DMSO and colloidal silver roughly every hour (which Gerald the cat loved), the eye rapidly improved, and a few days after the initial visit, the vet cancelled the operation and after six weeks the eye was healed.
• This dog had got an eye ulcer from a scratch, and the vet wanted to remove the (blind) eye.102 After a month it fully healed and sight returned.
Note: I have received additional reports of injured pet eyes recovering and reports of human eyes that top doctors said would need to be removed instead of recovering with DMSO.
Conclusion
DMSO’s ability to heal the surface of the eye also allows it to heal conditions deeper within the eyes. In turn, it has been truly extraordinary for me to see how much data there is supporting it treating nearsightedness, floaters, cataracts, glaucoma, uveitis, macular degeneration, and other causes of blindness like retinitis pigmentosa — as for many of these conditions, I was trained to believe there was nothing you could ever do to cure them.
Fortunately, due to our extraordinary political climate, more and more are awakening to the Forgotten Sides of Medicine and realizing they can take direct charge of their health rather than depend on a costly, often counterproductive medical system. It has been an incredible privilege to see just how many readers have been able to restore their eyes with DMSO, and we are deeply grateful that we at last can change the unhealthy medical paradigm we’ve been trapped within.
Author’s Note: This is an abridged version of a longer article that discusses the evidence presented here in more detail along with how DMSO can be used with natural therapies to treat a variety of other complex eye disorders (e.g., macular degeneration, floaters, cataracts, or needing to wear glasses). That article, along with additional links and references, can be read here.
A Note from Dr. Mercola About the Author
A Midwestern Doctor (AMD) is a board-certified physician from the Midwest and a longtime reader of Mercola.com. I appreciate AMD’s exceptional insight on a wide range of topics and am grateful to share it. I also respect AMD’s desire to remain anonymous since AMD is still on the front lines treating patients. To find more of AMD’s work, be sure to check out The Forgotten Side of Medicine on Substack.
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