Stye (Sty): What is It, Causes, Treatment & Prevention

Stye (Sty) Complications

A chalazion, which develops when an irritated oil gland completely blocks itself, might develop from a stye. A chalazion may interfere with your vision if it becomes large enough.

Stye (Sty) Diagnosis

Certain styes are more difficult to treat and necessitate a trip to your doctor. Contact an eye doctor or ophthalmologist if your vision looks to be affected or if your stye appears to be becoming worse rather than better. Your doctor will inspect your eyelid when you are there and will also inquire about any other symptoms you may be experiencing. If you frequently have styes, they might recommend some antibiotic eye ointment. Perhaps they can advise having the stye lanced to remove the infection. To make the region numb, a local anesthetic will be used. You may also receive an oral antibiotic to help prevent the spread of the bacteria in more severe cases.

Stye (Sty) Treatment

It's time to call your eye care professional if your discomfort and swelling don't improve after 48 hours of self-care. Following are some medical treatments for styes:

• To drain your stye in the office, your doctor might make a little incision (under local anesthesia).
• Your doctor might advise using antibiotic eye drops or an ointment on your eyelid.
• When the area around the eye is infected or if an incision is performed to drain an interior stye, oral antibiotics are occasionally administered.
• To lessen swelling of the eyelids, your doctor may inject a steroid medication into the stye.

Stye (Sty) Home Remedies

A stye typically disappears on its own after one to two weeks. You can follow a self-care strategy to take care of your stye at home in order to feel well more quickly and to lessen pain and swelling. Here are some tips for managing your stasis at home.

Do:

• Apply warming compresses: Three to five times each day, apply a warm washcloth for 10 to 15 minutes at a time to the eyelid. Warm the washcloth again by soaking it, wringing it out, and repeating. Due in part to the antibacterial qualities of green tea, many people think that using green tea bags wet in warm water as eye compresses can help the stye not only feel better but also hasten healing. Researchers have demonstrated that a natural antioxidant in green tea destroys the bacteria's cell wall, killing it. It won't injure you and should be at least as helpful as using a warm towel as a compress, but there is some disagreement about this among eye specialists.
• Clean eyelids: With a gentle soapy mixture created from baby shampoo and water, gently wipe away eye discharge. Moreover, you can use the eyelid wipes that are sold at most pharmacies.

Don’t:

• Pop or squeeze a stye
• Touch or rub the eyelid
• Use contact lenses or cosmetics until the spot has healed