Stye on your eyelid: causes, treatment and how to get rid of it

What a stye is

Your eyelids contain dozens of tiny oil glands, and each eyelash grows from its own follicle. A stye, medically a hordeolum, forms when one of these becomes blocked and infected, usually by staphylococcus bacteria that normally live harmlessly on the skin.

It starts as a tender, red area at the edge of the lid and develops over a day or two into a small bump, often with a yellow head, like a pimple. The eyelid may swell, the eye may water and it can feel as though something is in the eye. A stye can also form on the inside of the lid, which is less visible but just as sore.

Stye or chalazion?

They look similar and are often confused.

A stye that does not drain can turn into a chalazion. Both are treated first with warm compresses.

How to treat a stye at home

1. Apply a warm compress. Soak a clean facecloth in warm water. It should be comfortably warm and never hot enough to burn. Wring it out and hold it against the closed eyelid for about 10 minutes. Rewarm it as it cools. Do this three or four times a day. The warmth softens the blocked oil and helps the stye come to a head and drain.
2. Massage gently. After each compress, use a clean finger to massage the lid lightly towards the lashes.
3. Keep the eyelid clean. Wipe along the lash line with cotton wool and cooled, boiled water.
4. Leave it alone. Do not squeeze, prick or pop it. That can push the infection deeper into the lid.
5. Stop wearing eye make-up until it has healed, and throw away any mascara or eyeliner you used just before it appeared.
6. Wear glasses, not contact lenses, until it clears.
7. Take a painkiller such as paracetamol if it is sore.

Most styes burst and drain by themselves within a few days and are gone in one to two weeks.

When to see a doctor

• no improvement after one to two weeks of warm compresses
• redness and swelling spreading across the whole eyelid or onto the cheek
• your vision is affected
• the eyelid is very painful or swollen shut
• you have a fever or feel unwell
• styes keep coming back
• a lump that bleeds, loses its lashes or never fully goes away

A doctor may prescribe antibiotic ointment or tablets if the infection is spreading, or may drain a stubborn stye or chalazion with a small procedure under local anaesthetic. A lump that keeps returning in the same place should always be examined, because a small number of eyelid lumps are not styes.

What causes styes, and how to prevent them

Styes are more likely if you:

• touch or rub your eyes with unwashed hands
• sleep in eye make-up or use old make-up
• have blepharitis, a long-term inflammation of the lid edges with crusting at the base of the lashes
• have rosacea, diabetes or very oily skin
• do not clean contact lenses properly

To reduce the risk:

• Wash your hands before touching your eyes.
• Remove eye make-up every night, and replace mascara and eyeliner every three months.
• Do not share make-up, towels or facecloths.
• If you get styes often, clean your lid margins daily with a warm, damp cloth or a lid wipe.
• Follow the cleaning rules for your contact lenses.

Is a stye caused by stress, or by needing glasses?

Stress and lack of sleep do not cause styes directly, but being run down may make infections more likely. Needing glasses does not cause a stye either. However, people whose eyes are strained, dry or itchy tend to rub them more, and rubbing transfers bacteria to the lids. If you are always rubbing tired or irritated eyes, an eye test is worth having. See dry eyes: causes and relief and itchy eyes and allergies.