Chalazion treatment
Massage with a cotton bud or swab
Massaging the cyst after using a hot compress can encourage the cyst to drain. Do this gently, with a clean finger or cotton bud, in the direction of your eyelashes.¹⁰
Medication
A pharmacist or doctor may recommend over-the-counter treatments, like eye drops, ointments, and medicated pads, to reduce any soreness or irritation caused by your chalazion and to try to help it drain away more quickly.⁸
Surgical treatment
If your chalazion gets bigger, doesn’t go away by itself within a month or starts making some of your eyelashes fall out, it may need treatment by a doctor.
Your doctor might give you a steroid injection³ or anti-inflammatory eye drops ², ⁸. If there is an infection, they can also prescribe antibiotic pills²,⁸. The steroid injection can reduce inflammation and can help the chalazion to go down more quickly.⁷ Your doctor may be more likely to recommend a steroid injection if your chalazion is small or if it’s near your tear ducts.⁷
Alternatively, or if your chalazion is big, your doctor might remove it surgically. They would perform an excision of the chalazion, which means cutting it out, usually from the inside of the eyelid so that you don’t end up with a visible scar on the outside of your eyelid.³ Once they’ve cut into the chalazion they can remove the blocked oil from it. You would most likely have this surgery under local anaesthetic, in the form of anaesthetic eye drops and an injection into your eyelid⁶. Young children may need a general anaesthetic instead.²
It’s a relatively quick procedure (about 20 minutes), and you can go home on the same day. Your GP might even be able to perform the procedure.⁶ However, you shouldn’t drive yourself home, because of having to wear an eye pad after.⁶
While your chalazion is healing
Once your chalazion begins to go down, try to avoid touching the area. If it’s going down, this means there’s an opening for the contents to drain through. It’s best not to touch this area to make sure you don’t get any germs in, which could cause an infection.⁸
Never try to squeeze or burst a chalazion, as this can cause an infection and make it worse.⁸