Eye Stye: What you need to know. Basic information. Wiki

Content:

Stye Overview
What Are Stye Causes?
What Are Stye Symptoms and Signs?
What Types of a Stye?
What Are Stye Treatments?
Are There Home Remedies for a Stye?
What Medications Treat Styes?
How to Prevent a Stye?
What Is the Prognosis of a Stye?
Some Photos and Pictures.

Stye Overview

A sty is a bump that forms on or in the eyelid as the result of a blocked gland. Look like a small, painful lump on the inside or outside of the eyelid. A stye – usually only affects one eye, although it's possible to have styes in both eyes or to have more than one stye in the same eye. If you have a stye, your eye may also be watery and you may have a red eye or eyelid. Your vision shouldn't be affected. The word "sty" can also be spelled "stye." There are two distinct types of styes: hordeolum and chalazion. Each has different causes and treatments.

A hordeolum is a blockage of one of the sweat glands found in the skin of the lid and base of the eyelashes, or one of the small sebaceous glands found at the base of the eyelashes. Sebaceous glands secrete sebum, a waxy, oily material.

A chalazion is a blockage of a meibomian gland, which is a special sebaceous gland unique to the eyelids. These glands form a single row in each lid, with the body of the gland located inside the eyelid, and the opening located at the rim of the lid, posterior to the lashes. These glands secrete an oil onto the surface of the eye to prevent the water layer of tears from evaporating too rapidly from the eye's surface between blinks. Therefore, poorly functioning meibomian glands can lead to dry eye symptoms.

From Wikipedia:

An external stye or sty, also hordeolum , is an infection of the sebaceous glands of Zeis at the base of the eyelashes, or an infection of the apocrine sweat glands of Moll. External styes form on the outside of the lids and can be seen as small red bumps. Internal styes are infections of the meibomian sebaceous glands lining the inside of the eyelids. They also cause a red bump underneath the lid with only generalized redness and swelling visible on the outside. Styes are similar to chalazia, but they tend to be smaller and more painful, and they usually don't cause any lasting damage. They contain water and pus, and the bacteria will spread if the stye is forcefully ruptured. Styes are characterized by an acute onset and usually short in duration (7–10 days without treatment) compared to chalazia, which are chronic and usually do not resolve without intervention.

What Are Stye Causes?

Styes are usually caused by infections of the oil glands in the eyelid. Although they are particularly common in teenagers, styes are experienced by people of all ages. Very frequently, they are infected by bacteria, most commonly Staphylococcus bacteria, and can be secondary to blepharitis or a deficiency in immunoglobulin. Staphylococcus bacteria often live on the skin without causing any harm.

Seborrhea (excessive oily discharge from the glands) may increase the likelihood of developing one of these infections. Certain other factors can contribute to the infection of the glands:

Improper or incomplete removal of eye makeup
Use of outdated or contaminated cosmetics
Poor eyelid hygiene
Poor nutrition
Sleep deprivation
Rubbing of the eyes
Contact lenses
Inflammatory diseases of the eyelid
Stress
Hormonal changes

What Are Stye Symptoms and Signs?

The first sign of a stye is a small, yellowish spot at the center of the bump that develops as pus expands in the area.

Other stye symptoms may include:

A lump on the top or bottom eyelid
Localized swelling of the eyelid
Pain in the area of the bump
Redness
Tearing
Tenderness to touch
Burning in the eye
Crusting of the eyelid margins
Droopiness of the eyelid
Scratchy sensation on the eyeball
Mucous discharge in the eye
Blurred vision
Light sensitivity
Irritation of the eye
Sensation of a foreign body in the eye
Discomfort during blinking

After symptoms appear, a small pimple will develop in the affected area. Usually this is accompanied by swollen eyes. Sometimes just the immediate area is swollen; at other times, the entire eyelid swells.

What Types of a Stye?

There are two types of stye. There are external styes and internal styes.

An external stye - is an infection of the apocrine sweat glands of Moll, or the sebaceous glands of Zeis, and form on the outside of the lids.

An internal styes - is an infection of the meibomian sebaceous glands, which line the inside of the eyelids. These types of styes also form a swollen red painful bump that contain an accumulation of pus and water.

Attention! An internal stye might not rupture and heal on its own. Because this type of stye can be more serious, your eye doctor may need to open and drain it.

What Are Stye Treatments?

You shouldn't pop a style like you would a pimple. Allow the stye to rupture on its own. Most styes heal on their own within a few days.

The best stye treatment includes medication and and a variety of at-home self-care measures, such as warm compresses and eyelid scrubs.

For at-home self-care treatment, cleanse the affected eyelid with a nonirritating baby shampoo or soap mixed with lukewarm tap water. Then thoroughly clean the edge of the eyelids with an eyelid scrub or a Q-tip. Cleanse the eyelids gently and while the eyes are closed to avoid eye injury.

If the stye doesn't resolve within 14 days, a medical professional will often lance the stye to accelerate drainage. Doctors might also treat persistent styes with antibiotics, such as amoxicillin, chloramphenicol or erythromycin. However, these antibiotics mostly prevent secondary eye infections and provide little healing effect on the stye. If the stye ruptures, the patient should give medial care to the wound to prevent reinfection.

Are There Home Remedies for a Stye?

The best home remedy for a sty is to apply a warm compress as often as possible. It is important to remember that a chalazion may take months to resolve completely.

In the meantime, trying the treatments described below should help ease your symptoms:

Apply warm compresses four to six times a day for about 15 minutes at a time to help the drainage. Keep the eyes closed when applying the warm compresses.
Gently scrub the eyelid with tap water or with a mild, nonirritating soap, or shampoo (such as baby shampoo). This may help with drainage. Close the eyes as you scrub so you do not injure your eyes.
Do not squeeze or puncture the stye. A more serious infection may occur as a result.
Discontinue the use of eye makeup as well as eye lotions and creams because they may be contaminated with the bacteria from the infection.
Discontinue wearing contact lenses while a stye is present because the infection may cause an infection to spread to the cornea with the continued use of contact lenses.

Don't try to burst the stye yourself. Most styes get better and disappear within one to three weeks.

What Medications Treat Styes?

Care is mainly provided to help relieve symptoms and to hasten recovery.

Medical treatment provided by a doctor is aimed at relieving symptoms.

Warm compresses are usually recommended.
Pain medicine, such as acetaminophen (Tylenol), may be given or recommended.
Antibiotics may be necessary.
Topical antibiotics in the form of eyedrops or eye ointment may be prescribed by an ophthalmologist.
Occasionally, oral antibiotics are given to people either with styes that do not go away or with multiple styes as well as to those who have styes in addition to other conditions, such as blepharitis or rosacea.
People who have rosacea along with a stye may require treatment of their cheeks with an antibiotic cream, an oral antibiotic, or both.
Oral or IV antibiotics are usually given if the infection has spread.
An ophthalmologist may remove the pus from a large or painful stye by making a small incision in the inside of the lid and then draining the pus.

Antibiotics aren't recommended for treating styes because there's little evidence they're effective, and styes usually get better on their own. However, antibiotics may be used to treat complications of styes, such as chalazions (meibomian cysts).

Don't forget, the most conservative treatment is application of frequent warm compresses alone. This can be accomplished with a warm wet washcloth, microwaveable eye masks (sold at drugstores), or a heating pad.

Surgery is the last resort in stye treatment. Styes that do not respond to any type of therapies are usually surgically removed. Stye surgery is performed by an ophthalmologist, and generally under local anesthesia.

How to Prevent a Stye?

Stye prevention is closely related to proper hygiene. Proper hand washing can reduce the risks of developing not only styes, but also many other types of infections.

Upon awakening, application of a warm washcloth to the eyelids for one to two minutes may be beneficial in decreasing the occurrence of styes by liquefying the contents of the oil glands of the eyelid and thereby preventing blockage.

To prevent developing styes, it is recommended to never share cosmetics or cosmetic eye tools with other people. People should also keep their eye tools clean and generally practice proper eye hygiene. It is also recommended to remove makeup every night before going to sleep and discard old or contaminated eye makeup.

What Is the Prognosis of a Stye?

Styes are generally harmless and rarely cause complications to the eye. However, they often recur in the same eyelid (top eyelid or bottom eyelid) or in the adjacent eye. Sometimes a stye can reoccur several times within a short period. It’s not uncommon to have two styes in the same eye at the same time.

A stye usually heals within 14 days by reputing. The swollen area containing the accumulation of pus breaks through the eyelid causing an instant relief of symptoms. If the abscess doesn’t burst, the stye becomes a chalazion and surgery might be required for treatment. If conditions worsen after 10 days, seek medical advice from your doctor.

Prognosis is better if one doesn’t attempt to puncture the stye’s pus sac prematurely, as the infection can spread to surrounding tissue. It’s recommended to seek a physician if you experience blurred vision, the stye reoccurs or bleeds, the abscess become extremely painful, or if the eye or lids become red.