4 at-home stye remedies
Styes are a common problem eye doctors see in their patients, but they are also very treatable.
A stye is a red, painful bump that develops when an oil gland at the edge of an eyelid becomes infected. Typically, they can appear on your upper or lower eyelid or near the eyelashes. Styes are caused by touching or rubbing eyes with unclean hands or sharing eye makeup or towels.
Dr. Bienvenido Castillo Jr., an ophthalmologist at Advocate Dreyer Medical Clinic, suggests the following at-home remedies to treat styes:
- Apply a warm compress for five minutes at least three times a day. This will promote circulation and attempt to bring the stye to the surface.
- Use a tea bag to apply heat. There is an added benefit of anti-microbials in teas such as chamomile and green tea.
- A warm coriander herb or diluted tee tree oil eye wash can provide heat and anti-septic.
- An unconventional but practical way of applying constant heat to the eye is a hot potato or a hard-boiled egg with its shell on.
Dr. Castillo also notes that it is important that the item placed on the eye is not scalding hot or it will burn the eyelid.
“You also shouldn’t try to pop the stye,” he says. “This may cause bacteria to spread and worsen the infection.”
While most styes are fairly simple to treat, a person should seek medical attention if a stye does not improve or worsens. An eye doctor can prescribe antibiotics or drain the stye, if necessary.
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health enews staff is a group of experienced writers from our Advocate Health Care and Aurora Health Care sites, which also includes freelance or intern writers.
Very informative article! Styes are usually caused by a bacterial infection inside of the eyelid or round the eye. Warm compress is really beneficial for giving yourself some relief from stye on eyelid. I was suffering from this eye problem and my eye doctor says I should apply a warm compress to my eyes twice a day. I got relief for this problem after applying warm compress.