Know All About Stye

A stye is a small, painful red lump that develops on the inside or outside of an eyelid. It is also known as a hordeolum. If you have a stye, your eye may also be watery and you may have a red eye or eyelid. It usually affects only one eye at a time. However it's possible to have styes in both eyes or to have more than one stye in the same eye. A stye can also cause an eye to be sensitive to light and make your eye watery or feel scratchy.

Types of stye:
There are two general types of stye:
- External stye: It's known as external hordeolum. – a swelling that develops along the edge of your eyelid.
- Internal stye /internal hordeolum – a swelling that develops on the inside of your eyelid.

Symptoms of a stye:
The main symptoms of a stye are:
- a painful yellow lump on or in the eyelid
- foreign body sensation (particularly with blinking)
- redness of the eye or eyelid
- a watery eye, in some cases
- feeling pressure inside the bump.
- Itching of the eye
- Droopiness of the eyelid
- Burning sensation
Signs of a stye include:
- redness
- swelling
- puffy appearance of the
- Crusting of the margins of the eyelids

What causes a stye?

Styes are usually caused by a staphylococcal infection. Staphylococcus bacteria often live on the skin without causing any harm.

External styes
A stye on the outside of your eyelid may be caused by an infection of:
an eyelash follicle – these are small holes in your skin that individual eyelashes grow out of
the sebaceous gland – this gland is attached to the eyelash follicle and produces an oily substance called sebum, which lubricates the eyelash to prevent it drying out
the apocrine gland – this sweat gland empties into the eyelash follicle and helps prevent the eye drying out

Internal styes
Internal styes can occur when the meibomian glands become infected. These glands are found on the eyelids and produce an oily liquid, which makes up part of the tear film that covers your eye.
If the meibomian glands become blocked, a cyst can develop, which can become infected

Risk factors for styes:

- Using cosmetics after their use-by dates
- Not removing eye makeup before going to bed
- Not disinfecting contact lenses before putting them in
- Changing contact lenses without washing hands thoroughly
- Adolescents tend to have styes more commonly, but people of any age can develop them
- Poor nutrition
- Sleep deprivation
If a member of a household has a stye, the other members should not share wash cloths or face towels to minimize cross infection.

Complications of a stye:
Styes do not affect vision. However, there may be other minor complications, such as:
    Transmission of the infection to other people
    Formation of a chronic stye
    Formation of a chalazion
    Periorbital cellulitis, also known as preseptal cellulitis
    Bacterial conjunctivitis can develop, as a result of the infection spreading to the mucous membrane of the eye.

Diagnosis and treatment
Styes usually heal without the need for medical treatment. Breaking a stye open is never recommended. If a stye persists for more than 4-5 days, or if the infection spreads to the whole eyelid, it is wise to seek medical advice. If you have a large stye, your doctor might need to puncture it to drain the infected fluid. If you keep getting styes or have ones that won’t go away, your doctor might prescribe an antibiotic cream to put on your eyelid. If the infection spreads beyond the eyelid, oral antibiotics might be prescribed.

Before visiting your physician the treatments below should help ease your symptoms.
Warm compress:
- hold the warm compress over the affected eye for five to 10 minutes, three or four times each day.
- gently massage the area
- repeat this three or four times a day until the stye clears up or releases some pus
- keep the area around your eye clean and free from crusting.

Painkillers:
If it is very painful, over-the-counter painkillers, such as paracetamol or ibuprofen, may help ease the pain.