Stye Health Video

A stye is an infection of the glands at the base of the eyelashes. Get expert tips and advice on preventing, diagnosing, and treating a stye in this video.

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Consult a doctor if you notice a red bump on the eyelid
Apply a hot compress to the affected area
Clean your eyelids regularly
Follow your eye doctor's recommendations

About this Author

Dr. Patel grew up in Texas and studied at the University of Texas at Arlington. In 1996, he graduated as a member of the Gold Key International Optometric Honor Society with a doctor of optometry degree from the University of Houston. Dr. Patel completed a residency in Hospital Based and Geriatric Eye Care at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Portland, Oregon. During his residency, Dr. Patel served as a clinical instructor to interns from Pacific University and the New England College of Optometry. Dr. Patel has provided hours of clinical procedures workshops for both the Oregon and Alberta, Canada Optometric Associations. He has volunteered his skills on an eye care team in Thailand, and the Special Olympics programs in Oregon. Dr. Patel also serves as a clinical examiner for the National Boards in Optometry, as a consultant to the Portland VA Medical Center, and Adjunct Faculty for the Pacific University College of Optometry.

DR. RAJ PATEL: Hi, I'm Doctor Raj Patel, optometrist at Vancouver Contact Lens and Vision Clinic here in Vancouver, Washington and I'd like to talk to you a little bit about styes. What is a stye? A stye is a common infection of one of the oil glands at the edge of the eyelid. It shows up as a tender painful red bump located at the base of the eyelid near where the eyelashes are or it can be on the underside or the inside of the eyelid. The medical term for these styes are called hordeolums. They tend to develop most commonly from a bacteria called staphylococcus and staph bacteria tends to harbor normally around the lid and lash margin. And so, that bacteria gets into the opening in one of those small ducts and it causes a localized infection. Some of the symptoms patients would have if they had a stye would be again, that redness, a little tender to the touch, swollen area, looks like a small [SOUNDS LIKE] nudge or sometimes it looks like a tiny little pimple that's present right at the base of one the eyelashes and it's typically a little tender. The diagnosis is usually made by some of the symptoms patients have and also by looking at the eyelid under a microscope by the eye doctor. The treatment for styes are typically hot compresses so applying hot compresses early on when an individual first gets styes. So using hot compresses to about three to four times a day, really aggressively for five or ten minutes a day makes a really significant difference in the outcome of these things. Also, antibiotics are helpful and so often times, doctors prescribe antibiotic ointments or antibiotic eye drops to help reduce the inflammation and reduce the infection that's in that localized area. And if it becomes recurrent, the doctor might advise you to clean your eyelids regularly using a type of baby shampoo scrub or commercially available pads that are used to clean the level of bacteria that's around the lids and lashes to keep these things from happening more commonly. So if you're an individual that might have some of the symptoms suggestive of the stye, again, a red painful nudge, little tender to the touch right at the base of the lids and lash margin then you can start off by using hot compresses three to four times a day for a couple of days. If you're not seeking much improvement and discomfort continues, seek out some medical attention and dealing with it early often helps with the outcomes.

Stye Health Video

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