Ghee for Eyes: Is It Safe? Netra Basti and Dry Eyes

Updated 9 min read never kitchen ghee in the eye • netra basti in a clinic • 1 to 2 tsp on the plate

Ghee for eyes is safe in one place: your food. Do not put kitchen ghee inside your eyes, even one drop at night. Netra basti (netra tarpana), where warm ghee is held over the open eyes in a ring of dough, is a clinic procedure done after an eye doctor has checked you, and one small trial found it eased dry-eye symptoms. For eyesight, 1 to 2 teaspoons of ghee in dal or sabzi helps your body use the vitamin A in vegetables.

Is it safe to put ghee in your eyes?

No, not from your kitchen jar. Ghee made for food is not sterile, and the surface of the eye has no skin to protect it. A dipped spoon, a finger, or a little water in the jar can carry germs straight onto it. Reels that say "one drop on the waterline every night" skip that part. The Ayurveda version, netra basti, uses prepared ghee, a trained doctor, and a clinic.

We make ghee in Gir Somnath, Gujarat, and we know how a jar gets used at home: spoon in for dal, spoon in for roti, lid off near the stove. That jar is food. A batch cooked too short stays cloudy, holds moisture, and goes sour quickly, which is why we never pack one, and why no ghee that has lived next to the stove belongs in an eye. At home, our ghee is for eating.

This page is for anyone who has seen ghee sold as an eye remedy, has dry or tired eyes from screens, or is thinking of booking netra tarpana. Here is where ghee can go, and where it cannot.

Where the ghee goes

Verdict

Why

Inside the eye, as drops

No

Kitchen ghee is food, not a sterile eye product. A spoon, a finger, or a drop of water in the jar is enough to carry germs onto the eye.

Pooled over the open eye (netra basti)

Clinic only

Done by a trained Ayurveda doctor with prepared ghrita, after an eye doctor has ruled out infection, injury, and glaucoma.

On closed eyelids

Take care

A rice grain of plain ghee on the outer lid skin, clean hands, never on the lash line. It softens dry lid skin; it does not wet the eye.

Under the eyes

Take care

A finger-width below the lashes, patted, not rubbed. Heavy layers melt into the eye and blur it.

In the navel or on the soles, "for the eyes"

No effect on eyes

Harmless rituals for most adults, but no route from navel or feet to the eye has been shown.

On your plate

Yes

1 to 2 teaspoons a day in dal or sabzi, the limit ICMR-NIN sets for ghee and butter together.

The navel and feet rituals are checked claim by claim on ghee in the belly button for eyes and does ghee on the feet improve eyesight.

What is netra basti, and how is it done?

Netra basti, also called netra tarpana, is an Ayurvedic eye treatment in which warm ghee is held over the open eyes inside a ring of dough for a set time, then drained. Netra means eye; tarpana means nourishing. Ayurveda texts place it among the eye procedures (netra kriya) for dry, tired, or burning eyes, and it is done by a trained Ayurveda doctor, not at home.

Knowing the steps helps you judge a clinic before you book one. If a centre skips the first step, or offers to send you home with ghee for your eyes, look elsewhere.

1. Eye check first

An eye doctor rules out infection, corneal damage, glaucoma, and allergy. A good Ayurveda clinic asks for this before starting.

2. Dough ring

A ring of black gram (urad) or wheat dough is pressed onto the bone around each eye so the ghee cannot run out.

3. Warm ghrita poured in

Plain ghee, ghee manda (the clear top of melted ghee), or triphala ghrita, warmed to body heat, never hot, until it covers the closed lids.

4. Open and blink

You open your eyes inside the ghee and blink slowly. In the 2021 trial each sitting lasted 30 minutes.

5. Drain and clean

The ghee is drained through a small opening in the dough, the face wiped, and the eyes rested away from sun and screens.

6. A short course

The trial used 7 days in a row. Sessions are set by the doctor, not repeated at home every night.

Which ghee is used for the eyes?

Clinics usually use cow ghee, plain or cooked with herbs. The best known eye ghee is triphala ghrita, ghee cooked with amla, haritaki, and bibhitaki; what medicated ghee is and how pharmacies make it is on medicated ghee (ghritam). Some centres use shata dhauta ghrita, ghee washed with water many times, which is lighter; see shata dhauta ghrita. Whatever the ghee, the clinic warms a fresh portion for each sitting and throws it away after it has touched the eye.

Warming matters more than people think. Ghee is ready in our kitchen only once all the water in the makkhan has boiled off, so ghee straight off the flame is far hotter than boiling dal. Ghee for the eyes is brought only to body warmth, and that is one more reason to leave the job to someone who does it every day.

Does netra tarpana work? What the trial found

There is one small randomised trial, and it found symptom relief with no group left untreated to compare against. So it is promising for dry-eye comfort, but not proof.

In the trial, published in the journal Ayu in 2021, doctors at SDM College of Ayurveda in Hassan gave 30 people with dry eye netra tarpana once a day for 7 days, 30 minutes a sitting, with 10 to 15 ml of ghee held in a black gram dough ring. Fifteen got triphala ghrita and fifteen got ghee manda, the clear top layer of melted cow ghee. In both groups 11 of 15 people reported moderate relief (50 to 75 percent) and 4 of 15 marked relief; nobody's symptoms went away completely. Grittiness, burning, and pain all eased, and no side effects were reported.

Read it with its limits. Both groups got ghee, so there is no way to tell how much came from the ghee and how much from 30 quiet minutes a day with the eyes closed to screens and dust. Patients and doctors knew who got what, and relief was scored from symptoms. People with red eyes, corneal ulcers, fever, or a cold were kept out of the trial, which is the same group who should keep away from netra tarpana. It says nothing about eyesight, glasses, cataract, or glaucoma.

Can ghee help dry eyes from screens?

Not directly. Eating ghee does not wet the eye, and putting kitchen ghee in it risks infection. What helps screen-dry eyes first is cheap and free: breaks, blinking, a lower screen, a warm flannel on the lids, and moist air, with drops from a pharmacist when that is not enough.

The NHS lists dry eyes as itchy, sore, gritty, red, blurry, sensitive to light, or more watery than normal. That last one surprises people: an eye that runs is often a dry eye trying to make up for it. Long screen work makes it worse because we blink less while we concentrate, and an AC blowing across the face pulls water off the eye.

For dry eyes

What it does

When

Screen breaks and blinking

Rests the eyes and brings the blink rate back up

Every day, from the first gritty evening

Screen just below eye level

Less of the eye is open to the air, so tears last longer

Set once at your desk

Warm flannel and lid cleaning

Loosens oil and debris along the lids, per the NHS

Daily

Humidifier, fan and AC away from the face

Stops dry air drawing water off the eye

In AC offices and in winter

Lubricating drops, gel, or ointment

Wets the eye surface now; a pharmacist can pick one

When self-care is not enough

1 to 2 tsp ghee in food

Carries fat-soluble vitamin A from the meal. Does not wet the eye.

With dal or sabzi, not as a remedy

Clinic netra tarpana

Tradition with one small trial behind it

Only after an eye doctor has seen you

The NHS lid routine is simple: soak a flannel in warm water, hold it on the closed eyes, gently massage the lids with a finger or cotton bud, then wipe along the lash line with cotton wool. If you wear contact lenses, switch to glasses for a while. See an optician or doctor if the dryness is still there after a few weeks of this.

Where ghee fits: a teaspoon in your lunch, like any other day. If screens also leave you sleeping badly, a fixed bedtime helps both, as we cover on ghee for sleep.

Does eating ghee improve eyesight?

Not on its own, and it will not change your glasses number. Ghee's part is small and real: vitamin A needs fat to be absorbed, and a teaspoon of ghee in the sabzi gives the vitamin A in vegetables that fat.

ICMR-NIN's Dietary Guidelines for Indians (2024) say vitamin A is needed for clear vision, including in dim light. When it runs short, the white of the eye loses its shine and dries, and can show foamy white patches called Bitot's spots; severe shortage can ulcerate the cornea and blind young children. The same guidelines name the foods that carry it: green leafy vegetables, carrots, tomatoes, capsicum, orange sweet potato, papaya, and mango. Those foods do the work. Ghee helps them along.

The same guidelines cap ghee and butter at 1 to 2 teaspoons a day, which is how much our family eats on roti, dal, and khichdi. More ghee does not mean more vitamin A where it counts. The full amount by age and meal is on how much ghee per day, and how fat carries vitamins in a meal is on ghee for nutrient absorption.

Can you put ghee on the eyelids or under the eyes?

On the skin, yes, with care: a rice grain of plain ghee, patted onto dry lid skin or a finger-width below the lashes at night. Keep it off the lash line. Ghee melts at body heat, and a thick layer slides into the eye by morning and blurs it.

Use a clean, dry spoon to take a little into a small pot kept only for the face, and never go back into the kitchen jar with a finger. Try it on the inner arm for a night first. Stop if the lids itch, swell, or get small bumps. For dark circles in particular, which type ghee can and cannot touch is on ghee for dark circles.

Which eye problems need a doctor, not ghee?

Anything painful, red, sudden, or hurt needs an eye doctor first, and no ghee near the eye until they have seen it. The NHS treats sudden changes in sight, eye injuries, and a painful red eye as urgent.

  • Sudden change in sight, flashes, or a curtain over part of what you see.
  • A painful red eye, or a red eye while wearing contact lenses.
  • Eyes very sensitive to light, or eye pain with a bad headache and feeling sick.
  • Thick yellow or green discharge, or eyelids stuck shut in the morning.
  • Any injury, splash of chemical, or something stuck in the eye.
  • Dryness still there after a few weeks of breaks, lid cleaning, and drops.

Eye doctor first. People with glaucoma, diabetes, a recent eye operation (cataract, LASIK), an eye infection, or contact lenses should not have netra tarpana without their eye doctor's say. This page is general information from ghee makers, not medical advice.

Ghee for eyes: a 7-point safety checklist

Screenshot this and share it with whoever sent you the reel.

  1. No kitchen ghee inside the eye, ever. Not as drops, not on the waterline, not in a baby.
  2. Netra basti only in a clinic, after an eye doctor has checked your eyes.
  3. On lids or under the eyes: a rice grain, clean dry spoon, a small pot kept only for the face.
  4. Contact lenses out before any ghee goes near the eyes.
  5. Ghee in the eye by mistake: rinse with clean water. Still blurry or stinging after that, see an eye doctor.
  6. For dry eyes: breaks, blinking, lid cleaning, humidity, then drops. Ghee stays on the plate.
  7. For eyesight: green leafy vegetables, carrots, papaya, and mango, with a teaspoon of ghee in the cooking.

For the ghee on your plate, a plain jar with nothing added is the one to buy; five quick checks are on how to identify pure ghee.

Which ghee for the plate?

The ghee that helps your eyes is the teaspoon in a meal full of greens and carrots, so buy a jar you are happy to eat every day: plain, a smell of toasted milk when warmed, and grain when cool, which is normal for slow curd-churned ghee. Our ranking of the cow ghee on sale is best cow ghee in India.

We make and sell ghee, so weigh this with that in mind. For the daily teaspoon we would pick our own A2 Gir cow ghee: milk from grass-fed Gir cows, set to curd overnight, churned by hand (Bilona), and cooked in a matki on a wood chulha, made after you order, with a video of your jar sent on WhatsApp. For parathas and sweets, our Jafarabadi buffalo ghee is the richer jar. Neither is for your eyes. We test every month against the FSSAI limits; the steps are on how we make ghee.

The daily teaspoon on dal and sabzi

Paratha, halwa, and winter sweets

Each order is cooked after you place it, and the packing video is of that batch. Past order videos are on the shop.

FAQ

What should I do if ghee gets into my eye by mistake?

Blink a few times and rinse the eye gently with clean, lukewarm water, holding the lid open. The blur from a film of fat usually clears within minutes. Do not rub, and take out contact lenses first. If the eye still stings, stays red, or your sight is blurred after rinsing, see an eye doctor that day and tell them what went in, since some ghee jars carry herbs or camphor.

Can I put ghee in my baby's eyes?

No. A newborn with sticky or watery eyes often has a blocked tear duct or an infection, and both need a paediatrician, not a home remedy. Ghee in a baby's eye can carry germs from the jar and blur the eye for hours. Some families also line a baby's eyes with homemade kajal; that is soot, not ghee, and anything on the lash line can reach the eye.

Is cow ghee or buffalo ghee used for netra tarpana?

Clinics usually use cow ghee, often cooked with triphala or other herbs, and the 2021 dry-eye trial used cow ghee manda (the clear top layer of melted ghee) as its plain arm. Buffalo ghee is not the usual base. The clinic prepares and warms the ghee for each sitting, so you should not bring a jar from home or reuse ghee that has touched the eye.

Can I make triphala ghrita at home and use it on my eyes?

Make it for eating if a vaidya has asked you to, but do not put it in your eyes. A home batch has herb particles, water left from cooking, and no sterile handling, and each of these can scratch or infect the surface of the eye. Clinics that do tarpana prepare the ghrita for that use and drain it after one sitting, which a kitchen cannot copy.

Does ghee remove spectacles or cure weak eyesight?

No. Short sight, long sight, and the need for reading glasses come from the shape of the eye and its lens with age, and no food or eye bath changes that. Ghee in food helps only in the way any fat does, by carrying vitamin A from vegetables. Netra tarpana studies measured dryness and strain symptoms, not power. An optometrist checks your number; glasses, lenses, or surgery correct it.

How many sessions of netra tarpana are needed?

The Ayurveda doctor decides after seeing you. In the one randomised dry-eye trial we found, people had one 30-minute sitting a day for 7 days, and were followed for 60 days. A short course like that is the usual shape; nightly sessions at home for months are not. If your eyes feel no better after the course, go back to an eye doctor rather than booking more sittings.

Sources

  1. Efficacy of Triphala Ghrita and Goghrita Manda Tarpana in the management of Shushkakshipaka w.s.r. to dry eye syndrome: an open labelled randomized comparative clinical trial (Timmapur and Fiaz, 2021; 41(1):52-57), Ayu (An International Quarterly Journal of Research in Ayurveda). Checked 28 Sep 2026.
  2. Dry eyes (page last reviewed 6 January 2025), NHS. Checked 28 Sep 2026.
  3. Dietary Guidelines for Indians, 2024 (vitamin A and the eye, p. 65; limit ghee or butter to 1 to 2 teaspoons a day, p. 71), ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition. Checked 28 Sep 2026.

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