What are Styes and What You Can do About Them?

If you are experiencing a painful red swelling on the edge of your eyelid, the chances are that you are the victim of a sty.  Luckily, while styes can be uncomfortable or even outright painful, they are not a danger to your eye or to your eyesight.

Simply put, a sty is a pimple that forms on your eyelid.  Just as pimples are often caused by inflammation of the oil glands around the hair follicles on your skin, styes are caused by inflammation of the glands surrounding the follicles of your eyelashes.  And just like pimples, they usually come to a head, drain, and disappear in just a few days.

Styes can only be passed from person to person through direct contact.  To lower the risk of transmitting a sty, do not share your washcloths or towels with others.

In most cases, styes will disappear quickly without any intervention.  To ease pain and to speed the disappearance of a sty, you can lay a moist, warm compress such as a hot washcloth over the affected eye.  Leave the compress on your eye for ten to fifteen minutes at a time to help it drain more quickly.  Under no circumstances should you attempt to “pop” a sty.

If you wear contact lenses try switching to glasses for the time being to help reduce the inflammation.

If your sty does not disappear within two weeks, or if it is causing irritation by rubbing against your eye, you may need to have it professionally drained.  Consult with your doctor for options.

If you experience this problem frequently, your doctor can also give you an antibacterial ointment that will kill the staphylococcal bacteria before it can inflame the glands of your eyes and form a sty