This review found that castor oil can thicken and stabilize your tear film's lipid layer, which helps reduce dry eye symptoms and discomfort. The oil's main active component (ricinoleic acid) has antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties that may help manage eye conditions like blepharitis and meibomian gland dysfunction—though most current treatments are still just symptom management rather than cures.

This was a literature review that examined existing research on castor oil's chemical properties and how they work on the eye's surface, rather than a new clinical trial.

Funding not disclosed in abstract