Styes and Chalazia

Home Treatment

Home treatment for styes and chalazia

Home treatment is usually all that is needed to treat most styes and chalazia. Try the following measures to reduce the discomfort and help them heal.

• Do not wear eye makeup or contact lenses until the stye or chalazion heals.
• Apply warm, wet compresses. Warm, wet compresses applied 3 to 6 times a day usually help styes and chalazia heal faster. A warm compress may also help open a blocked pore so that it can drain and begin to heal. Wash your hands before applying a compress. Use a clean cloth or piece of gauze moistened with very warm tap water. Do not heat compresses in a microwave oven. The compress may become too hot and can burn the eyelid. Place the compress over your closed eye until it begins to cool (usually 5 to 10 minutes). To speed the healing process, you may also use normal saline solution instead of tap water.
• Allow the stye or chalazion to break open by itself. Do not squeeze or open a stye or chalazion.
• Use nonprescription treatments. Make sure that any medicine you buy without a prescription is for the eyes (ophthalmic), not for the ears (otic). Nonprescription treatments available to relieve the discomfort of styes include:
  • Ointments, such as Stye.
  • Solutions, such as Bausch and Lomb Eye Wash and Collyrium Eye Wash.
  • Medicated pads, such as Ocusoft Lid Scrub and Stygiene.

If a stye or chalazion is not healing with home treatment, talk to your doctor. You may need a prescription antibiotic eye ointment or eyedrops.

Always wash your hands before applying eye ointment or eyedrops. Do not touch the tip of the applicator with your hand. Be sure the eyedropper and ointment tip are clean, and try not to touch the eye, eyelid, or any surface with the eyedropper or ointment tip. Always use a wall mirror with good light when applying eye ointment or eyedrops.

• If antibiotic eye ointment is prescribed, apply a thin layer over the stye at bedtime.
• If antibiotic eyedrops are prescribed, apply them by pulling the lower eyelid down with two fingers to create a little pouch between the eyeball and the lid. Put the drops in the pouch. To spread the medicine over the eye and eyelid, keep the eye closed for 30 to 60 seconds after putting in the drops.
• To put eyedrops in a child's eyes, have the child lie down and close his or her eyes. Put a drop in the inner corner (corner nearest the nose) of the infected eye. Then, have the child open the eye so the drop will go in. Do not let the child rub the treated eye.

To learn the best way to use these medicines, see:

Eye problems: Using eyedrops and eye ointment.

Prevention

To help prevent styes, internal hordeola, and chalazia, which are minor problems of the eyelid:

• Do not rub your eyes. This can irritate your eyes and spread infection.
• Protect your eyes from dust and air pollution by wearing safety glasses when you are outside, particularly when you do dusty chores like raking or mowing the lawn.
• Avoid areas where dust and air pollution are heavy.
• Replace your eye makeup, especially mascara, at least every 6 months. Bacteria can grow in makeup.
• Treat any inflammation or infection of the eyelid (blepharitis) promptly. If you do not, the infection may spread to the oil glands of the eyelid and cause a stye.

Although most styes and chalazia are not contagious:

• Avoid sharing towels, washcloths, or eye makeup.
• Wash your hands often and keep them away from your eyes, especially when caring for someone with a stye or any other kind of infection.
• Wash your hands often, and keep them away from your eyes if you have an infection in another part of your body.

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Author:	Jeannette Curtis	Last Updated: December 7, 2007
Medical Review:	Kathleen Romito, MD - Family Medicine Christopher J. Rudnisky, MD, FRCSC - Ophthalmology
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