Eye Styes
Causes And Treatment Of Eye Styes
Eye styes are small pimple-like bumps that occur on the eyelid, and can either occur on the inside or the outside of the eyelid. Eye styes are for the most part harmless and usually go away on their own after a brief time.
Eye styes are caused by a bacterium called Staphylococcal. This bacterium is almost always with us, usually residing in our damp nasal passages where it seldom causes any problems. Rubbing our nose and then an eye is the most common means of transferring bacteria to the eye, resulting in a stye. Consequently, antibiotics are often employed in those cases where treatment is needed. The Staphylococcal bacteria cause an abscess and inflammation, and the pressure on tissues created by the abscess can result in swelling and pain. Vision is seldom seriously impaired, and treatment is most apt to be sought after in those circumstances where a stye appears on the inside of the eyelid, where it is can be significantly more irritating.
Not everyone experiences eye styes, in fact it's safe to say that most people don't in spite of the fact that styes are considered fairly common. Some experience frequent styes, in which case topical antibiotic creams are usually prescribed to keep the number of incidents down.
Any Impaired Vision Is Usually Minor - In most cases, vision is not affected and the eyeball itself is in no danger. However, swelling in the immediate vicinity of the stye or, occasionally, of the eyelid itself, can sometimes result in watery eyes or blurred vision, though the condition is usually only temporary. Besides pain which may accompany the swelling, there is often a sensation of there being a speck in the eye, and the affected eye can also become overly sensitive to light.
Treatment - In those cases where eye styes become an irritant the best treatment is to apply warm compresses to the eye several times a day, for approximately 15 minutes each time. This will usually result in the abscess coming to a head and bursting, allowing the pus to drain away, after which the stye will disappear. In some cases, especially those in which the stye is on the inside of an eyelid, a doctor may need to pierce the stye to allow it to drain. If eye styes ever require piercing, it should only be done by a doctor. It is too dangerous a procedure to be done at home, as there is always a risk of damage to the eye itself. One may be tempted to squeeze a stye in much the same way as one would squeeze a pimple, but this should never be done. The tissues of the eyelid are quite sensitive and could be easily damaged. In addition, there's always the possibility that the infection could spread.
Eye Styes Can Be Contagious - Although the condition is not considered highly infectious, it nevertheless can be contagious since an individual can often transmit infectious bacteria to another. Cleanliness is the best preventive measure one can take to avoid spreading the infection, and close contact with others is best avoided when an eye stye is present.
Other Causes Of Eye Styes - Eye styes can also be brought about by blepharitis, an inflammation of the eyelid, by blocked oil glands, or by a blocked eyelash follicle. Stress is also believed to be a contributing factor in some instances. The bottom line is, an eye stye is one of those conditions that usually looks worse than it actually is, though any abnormality occurring in the immediate vicinity of the eye is always a little scary.