Stye

Stye of the upper eyelid

8-year-old boy with an external hordeolum of lower lid

The first sign of a stye is a small, yellowish spot at the center of the bump that develops as pus and expands in the area.[7]

Other stye symptoms may include:

• A lump on the top or bottom eyelid
• Localized swelling of the eyelid
• Localized pain
• Redness
• Tenderness
• Crusting of the eyelid margins
• Burning in the eye
• Droopiness of the eyelid
• Scratchy sensation on the eyeball (itching)
• Blurred vision
• Mucous discharge in the eye
• Irritation of the eye[8]
• Light sensitivity
• Tearing
• Discomfort during blinking[9]
• Sensation of a foreign body in the eye

Complications

Internal stye of upper eyelid

Stye complications occur in very rare cases. However, the most frequent complication of styes is progression to a chalazion that causes cosmetic deformity, corneal irritation, and often requires surgical removal.[10] Complications may also arise from the improper surgical lancing, and mainly consist of disruption of lash growth, lid deformity or lid fistula. Large styes may interfere with one's vision.

Eyelid cellulitis is another potential complication of eye styes, which is a generalized infection of the eyelid. Progression of a stye to a systemic infection (spreading throughout the body) is extremely rare, and only a few instances of such spread have been recorded.[11]

A stye is caused by a bacterial infection. The bacteria are Staphylococcus aureus in about 95% of cases.[12] The infection leads to the blocking of an oil gland at the base of the eyelash. Styes are experienced by people of all ages. Styes can be triggered by poor nutrition, sleep deprivation, lack of hygiene, lack of water, and rubbing of the eyes. Styes can be secondary to blepharitis or a deficiency in immunoglobulin.[13]

Stye prevention is closely related to proper hygiene. Proper hand washing can reduce the risks of developing not only styes, but also many other types of infections.

Upon awakening, application of a warm washcloth to the eyelids for one to two minutes may be beneficial in decreasing the occurrence of styes by liquefying the contents of the oil glands of the eyelid and thereby preventing blockage.[14]

To prevent styes, cosmetics and cosmetic eye tools should not be shared among people. Like with all infections, regular hand washing is essential, and the eyes should not be rubbed or touched with unclean hands. Contaminated eye makeup should be discarded and sharing of washcloths or face towels should be curtailed, to avoid spreading the infection between individuals.[15][16] Breaking the stye may spread bacteria contained in the pus and should be avoided.[17]

Most cases of styes resolve on their own within one to two weeks, without professional care.[3] The primary treatment is application of warm compresses. As a part of self-care at home, people may cleanse the affected eyelid with tap water or with a mild, nonirritating soap or shampoo (such as baby shampoo) to help clean crusted discharge. Cleansing must be done gently and while the eyes are closed to prevent eye injuries.[18]

People with styes should avoid eye makeup (e.g., eyeliner), lotions, and wearing contact lenses, since these can aggravate and spread the infection (sometimes to the cornea).[19] People are advised not to lance the stye themselves, as serious infection can occur.[19] Pain relievers such as acetaminophen may be used.

Although styes are harmless in most cases and complications are very rare, styes often recur. They do not cause intraocular damage, meaning they do not affect the eye. Styes normally heal on their own by rupturing within a few days to a week causing the relief of symptoms, but if one does not improve or it worsens within two weeks, a doctor's opinion should be sought. Few people require surgery as part of stye treatment. With adequate treatment, styes tend to heal quickly and without complications.

The prognosis is better if one does not attempt to squeeze or puncture the stye, as infection may spread to adjacent tissues. Also, patients are recommended to call a doctor if they encounter problems with vision, the eyelid bump becomes very painful, the stye bleeds or reoccurs, or the eyelid or eyes becomes red.[24]

The word stye (first recorded in the 17th century) is probably a back-formation from styany (first recorded in the 15th century),[25] which in turn comes from styan plus eye,[26] the former of which in turn comes from the old English stīġend, meaning "riser", from the verb stīgan, "to rise". The older form styan is still used in Ulster Scots today.

The homonym sty found in the combination pigsty has a slightly different origin, namely it comes from the Old English stiġ-fearh—fearh (farrow) is the Old English word for "piglet"—where stiġ meant "hall" (cf. steward), possibly an early Old Norse loanword, which could be cognate with the word stīgan above.[27]

The synonymous late Latin expression is hordeolum, a modulation of the word hordeolus, which is related to hordeum ("barley"), after its resemblance to a barleycorn. In Czech, a sty is called ječné zrno (from ječmen "barley" and zrno "seed or grain"); in German, it is called Gerstenkorn (barleycorn). In Hebrew it is called שעורה Seh-oh-Ráh ("barley"). In Polish it is called jęczmień ("barley"). In Hungarian it is called árpa ("barley").

• Boil

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• Merck Manual
• Willmann, D.; Guier, C. P.; Patel, B. C.; Melanson, S. W. (2021). "Stye". NIH - StatPearls - Stye. StatPearls. PMID 29083787.