Whenever anything feels a little off with your eyes, it can be worrying. After all, there are so many things that can go wrong with them, and with sight being so important and precious, you don’t want to take any risks. That said, getting a stye is is relatively common and shouldn’t cause you too many issues long-term. Luckily, you can learn all stye symptoms here and hopefully be able to diagnose and treat them yourself at home. 

What is a stye?

Simply speaking, a stye is caused by a bacterial infection in either a hair follicle or oil gland. These can happen when the area gets clogged up with dead skin cells and other matter, and can form a painful, swollen lump on either the top or bottom eyelid, 

If you are someone who has to touch your eyes more than most people, for example, if you are someone who wears contact lenses, or has allergies etc, you might find that you are prone to styes. If you have rosacea or long-term blepharitis, you may also find that you end up with more styes than average. 

Symptoms of a stye

One of the most obvious symptoms of a stye is the lump itself. It is usually a pink or red colour and can have a white head in a similar way to a pimple. Your eye may become watery and some people report having a sensitivity to light, or a ‘gritty’ feeling in their eye. Usually, the day before a stye appears people tend to feel as though they have something in their eye, but can’t see anything. 

If you have a swollen eyelid, but there isn’t a lump, it’s likely that you actually have conjunctivitis instead. If the lump is hard, but not painful, it might be a Chalazion. A stye usually only affects one eye at a time, but there can be more than one eye on your eyelid. Thankfully, they often go away on their own in around a week. 

One thing you can do to speed up the healing processes is to wet a clean washcloth with warm water and hold it against your infected eye for around 5-10 minutes, 3 or 4 times a day. Use painkillers to ease any discomfort and avoid wearing eye makeup and contact lenses until it has fully recovered. Remember that you’re more likely to get a stye if you’ve had one in the past, and you need to be careful not to use infected makeup or towels to touch your face. 

Although in most cases a stye will go away on its own, occasionally it might need a topical cream to help clear it up. If it is incredibly painful or swollen, impacts your eyesight or doesn’t heal within a few weeks you might want to head to your doctor to see if there is anything they need to do to help with the process. 

Collaborative post with our brand partner.