EYELID, LUMP IN
Description and Possible Medical Problems
“I have a sty in my eye.” Most of us have experienced a sty, an infection that occurs at the root of an eyelash, at one time or another. It may feel as though a tiny pea or pebble is stuck in your eye, and, because it is an irritant, the entire eye may become red and sore. Some people develop another kind of lump on the eyelid, called a chalazion, which is similar to a sty except that the infection occurs near the edge of the eyelid in the skin of the lid next to the eye. A chalazion looks like a lump in your eyelid, and you may feel as though you have a foreign body in your eye. A chalazion forms when one of the glands that lubricates the edge of the eyelid, called a meibomian gland, becomes blocked. But, unlike a sty, a chalazion doesn’t hurt.
Treatment
In most cases, you can take care of a sty or chalazion yourself. In fact, treating a sty yourself will speed up the healing process and relieve the pain. Simply apply a warm, damp washcloth to the area two or three times an hour. When the sty looks as though it’s about to burst, you can either pull out the eyelash near the sty or let the sty burst by itself. Once all the pus has run out of the sty, wash the area with warm water. The area will heal totally in a day or two.
To treat a chalazion, you should gently rub the swelling toward the edge of the eyelid. This usually causes the meibomian gland to become unblocked and the pus to drain quickly. Again, make sure to wash the eyelid with warm water. As with a sty, the lid will quickly heal.
Unless the infection grows so large that it begins to interfere with your sight, you may decide to wait out a sty or chalazion. But once it becomes larger than a small pea, it can distort the appearance of the eye and become unattractive, so you’ll probably want to treat it purely for aesthetic reasons.
If either of these self-help remedies doesn’t work, you should see your eye doctor, who will probably lance the sty or chalazion to allow it to drain and then treat the site with a topical antibiotic such as Bactrim, applied two or three times daily for about a week.
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