Private stye and chalazion clinic in London, same-day eye.

Telling them apart

• Stye — painful, red, tender lump at the lash line, often pointing with a small yellow head. Comes up over days, often bursts and settles within a week or two.
• Chalazion — a firm, usually painless lump further from the lid margin, sometimes appearing after a stye. Can take weeks to months to resolve and may not be tender at all.
• A chalazion is not an infection, which is why antibiotic drops do little for it.

Alongside the compress

• Lid hygiene — clean the lid margins daily with a lid wipe or dilute baby shampoo on cotton wool.
• Do not squeeze, and do not attempt to lance it yourself — this spreads infection into the lid.
• Stop wearing contact lenses and eye make-up until it has settled; replace old mascara.
• Paracetamol or ibuprofen if it is painful.
• Antibiotic ointment has a limited role — useful for a discharging stye or where there is surrounding infection, not for a chalazion.

If it does not go

A chalazion that persists beyond four to six weeks despite proper heat and massage can be treated with incision and curettage — a small procedure under local anaesthetic through the inside of the lid, taking a few minutes, with no visible scar. A steroid injection into the lesion is an alternative in some cases.

Preventing recurrence

• Treat underlying blepharitis — daily lid hygiene, long term. This is the main preventive measure.
• Warm compress once a day as maintenance if you are prone to them.
• Remove eye make-up thoroughly every night.
• Manage rosacea or seborrhoeic dermatitis, both of which drive lid gland dysfunction.
• Omega-3 in the diet may help gland secretions.