A stye (or hordeolum, in medical terms) is an oil gland in the eyelid that becomes blocked and inflamed. Styes can be uncomfortable and itchy, but they are rarely serious.
Here’s what to know about the symptoms and causes of a stye, and how they can be treated and prevented.
A stye is like a pimple on the eyelid, and the appearance is pretty similar, says Nicole Bajic, MD, an ophthalmologist at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio.
A typical stye shows up as a red nodule on the eyelid, and it’s usually painful. Sometimes, an early stye presents initially only as a general swelling of the eyelid. Patients who are prone to styes sometimes have other symptoms like dry eyes or blurred vision, says Dr. Bajic.
Other symptoms of a stye include:
- Feeling like you have something in your eye
- Light sensitivity
- Tearing and crusting around your eye
Inflammatory conditions that cause inflammation throughout the body may increase the likelihood of developing a stye, says Bajic.
Some other risk factors for styes include:
- Having Rosacea People who have rosacea on their face can also have it in the ocular (eye) region, which puts them at higher risk.
- Having Blepharitis This inflammation of the eyelid increases your risk for a stye.
- Having Seborrheic Dermatitis This chronic form of eczema, which can affect the scalp, eyebrows, face, and eyelids, raises the risk for styes.
- Having Diabetes Uncontrolled blood sugar raises the risk of infection in general in people with diabetes and may raise the risk of developing styes.
- Not Washing Your Makeup Off Every Night Neglecting to remove eye makeup, particularly before going to bed, raises the risk of styes.
- Touching Your Eyes With Unwashed Hands Unwashed hands can transmit germs to your eye area and result in a stye.
- Being Prone to Acne Because pimples and styes are both caused by clogged oil glands, people who get pimples often will generally be at a higher risk of getting a stye, says Bajic.
- Wearing Contact Lenses Wearing contacts may put you at higher risk of styes if you don’t disinfect them properly or wash your hands before inserting them.
- Having Demodex Mites These tiny mites can be the cause of a stye in a very small subset of the population, says Bajic. “The only way to know if your stye is caused by mites is to go to the eye doctor. You need a special microscope to see them in the lashes,” she says.
While stress can certainly throw the body out of whack for a lot of reasons, says Bajic, there hasn’t been research that directly links stress to styes.
However, a stressful period in life may affect a person’s diet and sleep routine, which could potentially increase the risk for a stye, she says.
Diagnosing a stye is done clinically, which means your doctor diagnoses it based on your health history, physical exam, and symptoms. In rare cases, what looks like a stye is actually cancer.
“If a patient has a chronic [bump] in the same eyelid that keeps showing up, especially if they are older, they really should have an eye exam to make sure there’s nothing more sinister going on,” Bajic says.
Cancers that can affect the skin around the eye include:
- Basal Cell Carcinoma This is the most common type of skin cancer. It grows slowly and isn’t dangerous if treated early.
- Sebaceous Gland Carcinoma This is an aggressive but rare tumor. It’s usually diagnosed in people in their sixties and seventies.
- Squamous Cell Carcinoma This is the second most common type of skin cancer that can be found near the surface of the skin. If it’s identified and treated early, most cases are curable.
Some other conditions that may be misdiagnosed as a stye include:
- Chalazion A chalazion is easy to confuse with a stye. It’s also a bump on the eyelid, but it grows more slowly than a stye, and unlike a stye, it often isn’t painful. If an internal stye doesn’t drain and heal, it can develop into a chalazion.
- Preseptal Cellulitis This infection of the eyelid and surrounding skin can result in eyelid pain and swelling. It can be caused by an insect or animal bite or an injury.
Prognosis of a Stye
Styes typically resolve on their own without lasting consequences.
Some people are much more prone to getting styes than others, says Bajic. “It can be very frustrating to have one crop up every few months. Others just have one or two in their lifetime; it depends on the person,” she says.
The time it takes for a stye to resolve depends on your skin type and how bad the blockage is, says Bajic. “For some people, that’s a matter of days, but typically it takes a week or two. If a stye lasts a month or longer, it may require an in-office procedure,” she says.
Styes often go away on their own, but the following may speed healing:
Home Remedies
“A warm compress is one of the best ways to get rid of styes and is typically very inexpensive,” says Bajic. The purpose of the compress isn’t to reduce swelling but rather to open the pores of the tiny oil glands to promote drainage so the stye can heal.
“You can run a washcloth under warm water and wring it out, and apply it to the affected eye, but this is not my preferred way, because the heat does not last very long. My preferred way is to use a reheatable eye mask,” Bajic says.
Follow the instructions for heating the mask in the microwave. Test the temperature of the mask on a sensitive part of your skin, such as the inside of your wrist, before placing it on your closed eyelid. Leave it on until it cools, at which time you can perform a gentle eyelid massage to encourage the oil glands to open up and release the backed-up oil, she says.
Never squeeze the stye, and don’t wear eye makeup until it goes away.
Medications and Other Treatments
Sometimes an oral antibiotic, antibiotic eye drops, or a topical antibiotic cream may be prescribed to treat the infection and reduce inflammation.
There are also a few procedures that can be performed in the office that may help, Bajic says. “I can apply some gentle pressure to help manually release the oil blockage to help things heal faster. In some cases, patients may benefit from a steroid injection in the office.”
For more stubborn and large styes, lancing may be required, she says. Lancing is done by making a small incision in the stye, and draining the fluid or pus. Numbing medication is used, and in most cases, stitches aren’t necessary.
“The absolute best way to keep styes at bay is with good eyelid hygiene,” says Bajic. If you wear eye makeup, make sure you remove it every night before bed, she says.
“I find the best way to make sure you get every bit of makeup off is through a double cleansing method, first with makeup remover, followed by your preferred facial cleanser. Some people have success preventing styes with eyelid wipes or scrub pads, says Bajic. “This can help remove the dead cells and debris from eyelashes and eyelids. Baby shampoo can be used with scrubs, or you can use premoistened eyelid wipes,” she says.
If styes are developing due to an underlying condition like rosacea, that condition needs to be adequately treated to prevent a stye.
In rare cases, a stye may lead to an abscess, which is a swollen, pus-filled mass on the skin. If this occurs, your doctor may drain it with a needle or surgical knife, and you may have to take antibiotics to treat the infection.
It’s not clear how many people get styes because the majority of them are treated at home, says Bajic. “They are relatively common, but we’re only seeing a small portion of the population who come in for it,” she says.
Styes are more common in children than adults.
These conditions also affect the skin around the eyes and raise the risk for styes:
Blepharitis This common eyelid disorder is an inflammation that makes eyelids red, irritated, and itchy, with dandruff-like scales that form on the eyelashes. It is caused by bacteria or skin conditions such as rosacea and dandruff. Blepharitis can increase the risk for developing a stye.
Ocular Rosacea Rosacea is a chronic inflammatory disease that causes flushing, redness, telangiectasia (the presence of visible small, spidery capillaries), and papules on the cheeks, nose, chin, and forehead. It can also affect the eyes, causing tearing, dry eye, a gritty sensation, itching, blepharitis, and styes.
- A stye is a bump on the eyelid near the eyelash. It is caused when bacteria build up in an oil gland and cause inflammation.
- Styes are most commonly caused by not washing off makeup at the end of every day.
- Styes usually resolve on their own within a few days. Using warm compresses can help speed healing.
- In some cases, a stye may need to be treated with an antibiotic ointment, or your doctor may need to lance it to release the built-up fluid and pus.
