Styes, otherwise known as sties or simply spelled “sty”, are pimple-like sores on your eyelids usually caused by the bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus, which is a bacteria commonly found in the human nose. Remember when you parents used to tell you to stop picking your nose? Well, there was a reason for that, whether they knew it or not.
Sties can be caused by a clogged pore or hair follicle as well, just like a pimple. In fact, these clogged pores or oil glands are sometimes caused by a different disease called chalazions, which are chronically inflamed oil glands that are usually not painful, but may need to be removed surgically if they grow big enough. Styes are often mistaken for chalazions. Styes, on the other hand, are usually painful and do not grow to be much larger than your normal zit.
Prevention and Treatment of Sties
Washing your hands on a regular basis will help to prevent styes from occurring. Because most styes, or sties, are caused by the S. aureus bacteria, and Staphylococcus is one of the most common bacteria found on human skin, it’s a good idea to wash your hands when you’re in public places. Also, wash your hands before touching your face, and wash your hands before touching part of your face (like your nose, where most S. aureus bacteria live) and then touching another part of your face. Just stop touching things and keep your hands and face clean! And don’t pick your nose!
The most common recommendation for getting rid of styes is to apply a warm compress to the infected area. Warm up a pot of water or just use hot tap water to dampen a wash cloth, then hold the cloth over your eye for 15 minutes at a time. Do this several times a day for as long as it take for the sty to drain on its own. The best thing for getting rid of styes is to let them drain on their own, that way you’re sure to avoid secondary infection that could be brought on if you attempt to pop the sty or rupture the inflamed skin.
Over-the-counter antibiotic ointments like Neosporin can help get rid of styes. In fact, some companies like Neosporin have special antibiotic sty treatments where you apply a strip that sticks to your eyelid for a period of time. Since most sties are, again, caused by a bacterium, antibiotics (the dominant treatment for bacterial infections in western medicine) are employed to kill the Staph bacteria. If you can do this with a cheap over-the-counter antibiotic cream, you’ve saved yourself a trip to the doctor and an expensive prescription.
If your sty lasts longer than 7 days, over-the-counter antibiotic eye drops prescribed by your doctor will help get rid of sties. That is, if your styes are in fact caused by S. aureus. It is a good idea to see your doctor if you suffer from chronic or repeatedly infected styes. Generally a painful stye caused by bacterial infection is cured with antibiotics, but sometimes styes can be a secondary infection caused by another more serious disease like blepharitis or something as benign as a susceptibility to chalazions.
If you want to get rid of a sty, you can have a physician or a nurse pop it. I will say that because a stye is a lot like a small blister or pimple, it is possible to pop it to get rid of it, but I wouldn’t recommend this approach. Besides the obvious dangers of putting anything sharp near your eye, you also risk further infection by giving the other bacteria on your skin an open wound to infect. If a stye is just too damn painful, get a nurse or a doctor to pop it for you, the right way, with sterilized instruments and lots of rubbing alcohol—this is, of course, a last ditch effort to get rid of styes.Sty Remedies
As I mentioned earlier, the only products that could be considered sty remedies specifically would be those antibiotic ointment manufacturers who make special “sty strips” to put on your eyes. Any old antibiotic cream will do. Other common manufacturers of antibiotic ointments include: Neomycin, Neosporin, Foille, or anything else called Triple Antibiotic Cream. Try not to get the cream in your eye, but don’t be afraid if you do, it doesn’t present much of a problem. Try to avoid the creams that claim to numb or relieve pain at the same time, those are filled with a local anesthetic that you definitely do not want in your eye.
