We've all been there: a red, painful stye appears on your eyelid, seemingly out of nowhere. Then, the questions begin:
Should you wear eye makeup or put in contact lenses? Are you contagious? Do you need to go to the eye doctor, or can you get rid of it at home?
The good news is that this unexpected annoyance is not a medical emergency.
“Styes are painful and frustrating, but they are quite common and highly treatable,” says Edward Nicholls, OD, an optometrist at the John A. Moran Center at the University of Utah. “They rarely cause vision problems and often go away with self-care.”
The Ins and Outs of Styes
A stye (also called a hordeolum) is a bacterial infection of the oil glands on the eyelids. When the meibomian oil gland gets clogged, a painful, pus-filled red bump forms on or around the eyelid. Common symptoms include puffy redness, burning, light sensitivity, and a gritty feeling.
There are two types of styes:
- External: This most common type of stye appears on the surface of the upper or lower eyelid, usually on the lash line or near the tear ducts.
- Internal: This less common type of stye appears on the inside of the upper or lower eyelid. It tends to be more painful due to its location in an area with sensitive nerves.
Contrary to popular belief, styes are not contagious. However, stye-causing bacteria can spread via shared items such as towels, makeup, and pillow cases.
Keep Calm and Compress On
A warm compress is your best line of defense against the stye. The warmth helps the pus dissolve and allows the stye to drain out.
- Apply the compress to the eye for 10 minutes
- Practice this at least three times per day
- Continue the warm compress for several days
Instead of a warm wet washcloth, which can lose heat quickly, you can purchase a medical compress or put dry rice into a clean sock and heat it in a microwave for 15-20 seconds before placing the sock on the eye.
“People may feel the need to pop a stye to get rid of it right away, but this will only push the infection deeper into the gland and make things worse,” Nicholls says. “Your best course of action is to stay persistent with the warm compress and let the stye run its course.”
Know When to Get Help
See a doctor if your stye doesn’t resolve in one to two weeks. This could mean an underlying health condition such as blepharitis (inflamed eyelids), meibomian gland dysfunction (clogged oil ducts), or rosacea (a skin condition that causes flushing or redness on the face).
Treatment may include:
- Antibiotics. If the infection worsens, your doctor may prescribe topical or oral antibiotics. Prescribed medications may come in the form of ointments or eye drops.
- Surgery: Typically done in an outpatient setting, the procedure involves a small incision in the stye to drain the pus out. It takes only a few minutes, and most patients recover quickly.
- Stick with it. Sadly, there isn’t an overnight cure for styes. However, with a little patience and a lot of warm compressing, that pesky red bump should go away on its own.
“Consistent self-care can lead to faster recovery,” Nicholls says. “It’s important to keep up with your in-home treatment routine every day until the stye clears up.”