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Home /
Quick Facts: Eye Disorders /
Eyelid and Tearing Disorders /
... /
Chalazion and Stye (Hordeolum) /
IN THIS TOPIC

What are chalazions and styes?

What are the symptoms of a chalazion or a stye?

How can doctors tell if I have a chalazion or a stye?

How do doctors treat a chalazion or a stye?

OTHER TOPICS IN THIS CHAPTER

Eyelid and Tearing Disorders
Chalazion and Stye (Hordeolum)
Entropion and Ectropion

ADDITIONAL CONTENT

Test your knowledge

Cholestasis
Cholestasis is reduction or stoppage of the flow of bile, the digestive fluid produced by the liver. It can be caused by disorders of the liver, bile duct, or pancreas. Which of the following is a key symptom that is almost always present in people with cholestasis? 

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Quick Facts

Chalazion and Stye (Hordeolum)

By

The Manual's Editorial Staff

Last full review/revision Feb 2020| Content last modified Feb 2020
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Topic Resources

What are chalazions and styes?

Chalazions and styes are painful lumps on your eyelid. Chalazions and styes start out with similar symptoms and look a lot alike.

  • A chalazion is a pimple caused by a blocked oil gland in your eyelid—it isn't infected

  • A stye is a staph infection at the base of an eyelash

  • Chalazions usually go away on their own in 2 to 8 weeks

  • A stye usually breaks open after about 2 to 4 days, and then it goes away on its own

  • Putting a hot compress on your eye may help a chalazion or stye go away faster

  • Doctors sometimes have to let the pus out of a stye by making a small cut with a tiny scalpel blade

What are the symptoms of a chalazion or a stye?

Your eyelid will have a small lump that is:

  • Red

  • Painful

  • Swollen

  • Irritated or tender

Chalazion symptoms usually go away after a few days, but there may be a lump for up to 8 weeks.

A stye usually breaks open after 2 to 4 days, letting some pus out and then going away.

How can doctors tell if I have a chalazion or a stye?

Doctors can tell if you have a chalazion or a stye by examining your eyelid.

How do doctors treat a chalazion or a stye?

Chalazions and styes usually go away on their own. To ease the pain and help them heal:

  • Put a clean, warm, wet compress on your eyelid for 5 to 10 minutes, 2 or 3 times a day

  • Don't try to pop it

  • Clean your eyelids with mild soap and water

  • Don't use your contact lenses or eye makeup until they heal

If your chalazion lasts longer than 8 weeks, your doctor may:

  • Drain the fluid

  • Give you a corticosteroid shot in your eyelid

If your stye doesn't go away on its own, or is very painful, your doctor may:

  • Give you antibiotics

  • Let the pus out by making a small cut with a tiny scalpel blade

NOTE: This is the Consumer Version. DOCTORS: Click here for the Professional Version
Click here for the Professional Version
© 2020 Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp., a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, NJ, USA)
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