Episode Sixteen: I F#%ked Around & Found Out: What A Naturopath Actually Does With An Eye Infection
Woman with a blue eye looking at audience
This article originates from a recorded talk by Elizabeth and has been carefully transformed into an interactive blog article with the support of AI. Links to the original YouTube video and Spotify episode are included below.
Right, guys. I fucked around and found out. I've come down with an eye infection. This thing started a few days ago and I should have jumped on it immediately, but I didn't. I just wanted to see what would happen. And now I'm suffering. It's all red, it's puffy, there's a little lump in there, and I'm suspecting it's a sty.
So what am I supposed to do? What should I have done right from the get-go? I'll tell you what I'm doing now, and the piece I really should have started ages ago. I was doing something, but I was half-arsing it, and I know better.
In This Article:
A Bit of Context
To give you context, I'd just had a fabulous girls' weekend. a lot of imbibing, a lot of alcohol and chocolate and all of that — which obviously put my physical liver under the pump. Then I came home straight back into a season of some heavy emotional stuff I'm navigating in my personal life. My liver was under pressure from multiple directions, and it found a way to tell me about it.
I noticed something going on with my eye and, knowing full well what I should do, decided to just observe it. Classic. Several days later, here we are: red, puffy, angry, with a lump that won't quit. Up until recently I couldn't even see a head on it — it was just this red, irritated lump sitting there looking furious at me.
So. Let's get into what I'm actually doing about it, because it's finally turning a corner.
Colloidal Silver
The first priority is managing the infection itself. I'm using colloidal silver — ionic silver — which is antimicrobial and works beautifully as an eye flush. I've decanted mine into a small, clean bottle with a dropper so I can apply it directly into the eye every so often throughout the day.
This stuff is a permanent fixture in my home kit. I've used it in the eyes of my cats, in the eyes of my children for conjunctivitis, on cuts, and gargled it for sore throats. It looks and tastes like water, you can use it topically or orally, and it's brilliant for any situation where you want antibacterial or antimicrobial activity without reaching for pharmaceuticals.
You'll find it at most health food shops — look for colloidal or ionic silver. It might have a slight yellow tinge depending on the brand, but anything along those lines will do the job. This handles things locally while everything else works systemically.
Cleaning Up the Liver
In Chinese medicine, the eyes are directly related to the liver. So when something shows up in the eyes, a naturopath trained in TCM immediately asks: what's going on with the liver?
In my case, the answer was obvious. The weekend of drinking and eating richly put my physical liver under real pressure — which in turn affects liver chi, the meridian. The liver in Chinese medicine is also responsible for the free flow of chi throughout the body, and that includes the free flow of emotions. Stuck liver chi means stuck emotions, and vice versa. So working on the liver works on multiple levels simultaneously.
I'm also looking at the emotional piece — more on that shortly — because in five element theory, the liver governs the wood element, and the emotions that live there are the ones I'm sitting with right now: a sense of burden, of resentment, of having to manage everything yourself.
The Herbs I'm Using
Jia Wei Xiao Yao San
This is a variation of the famous classical Chinese medicine blend Xiao Yao San, with a couple of additional herbs for a calming effect. It's one of my favourites for supporting liver chi and getting things moving. If you're working with a TCM practitioner, this is the kind of formula they might reach for in this situation.
Dandy Chai Tea
A chai blend with cardamom, cinnamon, and ginger — lovely for warming the body and the digestive system — but the hero ingredient for me here is dandelion root. Dandelion is a classic liver herb with a clearing, cooling energy. Given that this eye condition is hot and red and angry, cooling that heat down from the inside out is exactly what's needed.
Reishi Mushroom
Always in rotation for me, usually for calm and relaxation, but reishi also has a strong immune-modulating effect. Just in case this infection is a sign of being systemically run down — that my immune system hasn't been able to fight whatever was brewing — it's working on that angle as a bonus.
St Mary's Thistle (Milk Thistle)
If you're not into herbal teas, this is the one I'd reach for instead. It's hepatoprotective — meaning it actively supports and protects liver cells, helps clear the liver, and supports regeneration. After the weekend I had, it felt like the right call. Available in tincture or capsule form from most health food shops.
Homeopathic Silicea
This is the piece I wish I had started on day one. If I had, I'd probably already be on the other side of this.
You might know silica from a physical perspective — it's often in supplements marketed for hair, skin, and nails. As a Schuessler tissue salt, silicea is used for strengthening connective tissue. Take it to a higher homeopathic potency — 30C or 200C — and it becomes what we call the surgeon's knife: it opens things up and moves things out. Think splinters, abscesses, cysts, anything that needs to surface and release.
For me, the results have been remarkable. First dose yesterday morning, second that evening. Within hours I could actually see the sty for the first time — a visible white head, some direction. Overnight it separated, things started to come out. Today it feels less hard, less angry, like it's finally shrinking rather than growing. I'm taking a third dose tonight to keep the momentum going, and I'll stop once the main event has passed.
That is the wonder of the right remedy at the right time.
Crystal Essences: Flow & Release
You know me — I always tackle things from multiple angles, including the energetic.
For the wood element in five element theory, the essence I reach for is Flow. It addresses that particular energy of needing to control everything, feeling like you have to do it all yourself, being unable to let anyone else in or help. There's a harder edge to it — a resentment underneath the busyness, a prickliness. That describes my current season pretty well, if I'm being honest with myself.
I'm alternating Flow with Release — one essence every 24 hours. Something is literally trying to come out of my eye; I want to make sure I'm supporting that process on the emotional and energetic level too. Release keeps things moving and clearing so I can actually process what I'm sitting with, rather than just managing it.
The liver in TCM governs the free flow of chi and emotions. Working on it physically with herbs is one layer; working on it energetically with essences is another. Together, they're addressing the same pattern from different directions — which is always where the real shifts happen.
The Emotional Root Cause
I don't believe in coincidences. So I always ask: why did this show up now?
Right now, I'm navigating some hard and heavy conversations in my personal life — helping family members through things that are tough but necessary. And if I'm being really honest, it's bringing up feelings of burden and resentment. There's a prickly, frustrated energy running in the background that I haven't fully addressed.
In Chinese medicine and five element theory, those exact emotions — anger, resentment, judgment, jealousy, that sense of carrying everything yourself — all live in the liver, in the wood element. And the liver opens into the eyes.
So the eye, the liver, the emotions. It's all connected. It's no accident this showed up when it did.
What do I do with that? Sometimes just receiving the message is the healing. I don't need to spiral into figuring it all out — that would be more doing, and doing is exactly what's got me here. I'm choosing to sit with it a little. To be in it rather than manage it.
Why It's the Right Eye
One more layer for those of you who like to go deep: this is my right eye that's been affected. Generally speaking, the right side of the body is associated with the masculine, doing energy — action, output, managing, organising. The left is the feminine, being energy — receiving, reflecting, resting.
Right now I am deeply, thoroughly in the doing. Tasks, conversations to manage, people to coordinate, things to get through. I'm reflecting, yes — but it's all in service of moving chess pieces around, not in service of actually resting or integrating. I'm not surprised the right side is the one rebelling.
The eye is also about seeing. Am I not seeing something clearly? Am I judging something? I'm sitting with those questions without needing to answer them immediately. Not everything has to be figured out — sometimes you just notice it and let that be enough.
Closing Thoughts
Here's the honest summary: I fucked around and found out. If I'd started the silicea on day one, this would likely have resolved within 48 hours. I chose to observe instead, and now I'm several days in and just turning the corner. Lesson learned — hopefully.
But the combination of everything — the colloidal silver locally, the liver herbs, the homeopathy, the essences, and the honest look at what's going on emotionally — has finally shifted this. It's moving. It's clearing.
You can certainly leave something like this and see what happens, like I did. But if I'd intervened a little bit earlier, we might have been on the other side of this already. So the takeaway, as always: don't half-arse your own protocols. And when your body sends you a message, take a moment to actually receive it.
I'd love to hear if any of this resonates — especially if you're someone who tends to observe a bit too long before acting. Let me know in the comments, or come and find me on Instagram. And if you have your own go-to remedies for eye infections or anything similar, I'd love to know.
Want to explore the Crystal Essences mentioned in this episode — including Flow and Release from the Vintage Health range? Visit vintagehealth.com.au for full descriptions including chakras, colours, problem states, and positive outcomes.