Stye

A stye is a lump on your eyelid. It happens when one of the follicles where your eyelashes grow from, or one of the oil glands in your eyelid, gets infected or inflamed. It usually starts with a little yellowish spot, surrounded by red and swollen skin.

Styes tend to be red, painful, and filled with yellow pus. They can form on your upper or lower eyelid and on the inside or outside of the eyelid. It is possible but uncommon to have more than one stye at a time. Styes are not contagious.

Stye symptoms

The early signs of a stye begin with your eyelid becoming red and sore. Your eye may feel itchy, scratchy or gritty. Then you may notice a lump or swelling on your eyelid. Yellow pus can then form in the middle of the lump, while the skin around the lump can become red and swollen. The redness may be more difficult to see if you have dark skin. Your eye can become more watery or sensitive to light than usual.

Although a stye can make your eye red and watery, it won’t usually affect your vision. If the whole of your eyelid is red and swollen rather than just a single lump, this suggests blepharitis rather than a stye. Also, if you have a lump away from the lashes on your eyelid which is hard but not painful, this could be a chalazion rather than a stye.

If you’re unsure whether or not you have a stye, you should talk to your optometrist or doctor. We can examine the problem and recommend the best treatment.

After a few weeks, your stye will probably burst and the pus will drain away. Once this happens, the pain can go away and it will begin to heal. However, you shouldn’t try to burst it yourself. This can spread the infection to your other eye or to the rest of your eyelid, or to other people, or it could damage your eyelashes.

Stye causes

There are a few possible causes of a stye in your eye or under your eyelid. It is usually due to an infection. Styes can come from a bacterial infection in the oil glands in your eyelid, or in a follicle where your eyelashes grow from.

As styes are contagious, it’s important to use good hygiene to make sure they don’t infect another person.

Touching your eyes with dirty hands can infect your eyes. Also, using old eye make-up, leaving make-up on overnight, or putting in contact lenses without washing your hands first can pass on an infection. You can also catch styes from other people, by sharing their eye make-up, face cloths or towels.

Styes are common and affect people of all ages, especially children. You can’t always prevent styes, and you’re more likely to get one if you have blepharitis or a skin condition like rosacea.

Preventing styes

To help prevent styes, it’s important to keep your eyes clean. For example, if you wear contact lenses, always wash your hands before putting them in.

Try not to rub your eyes unless your hands are clean.¹ If you wear eye make-up, take it off before you go to bed. Keep any tools like eyelash curlers and make-up brushes clean; particularly mascara and eyeliner, and don’t share them with anybody. Also, try not to share makeup or use make-up you’ve had for longer than 6 months. If someone you live with has a stye, make sure you don’t share their towels or face cloths, because you could catch it.

You can also help prevent styes by holding a clean face cloth soaked in warm water against your eyes for a few minutes. This softens the oils in the oil glands and helps prevent them hardening into a blockage.

Because styes can be caused by a bacterial infection, it’s important to use good hygiene around your eyes and your face more generally. During the COVID-19 pandemic, reusable cloth face masks could contribute to spreading the bacteria that cause styes. It’s still very important to wear face masks to avoid spreading COVID-19 (and in many places it’s mandatory), but there are things you can do to make mask-wearing more hygienic. Try to avoid touching your face, especially the area around your eyes, when putting on, removing or adjusting your mask. Also, dispose of single use masks accordingly and remember to wash your reusable mask frequently in hot water. You could also try putting a strip of tape across the top of your mask, over the bridge of your nose, to stop you breathing into your eyes. This is more hygienic for your eyes and can also stop your glasses from fogging up.

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