Eyelid Stye Treatment (Chalazion Treatment)

If you believe you have a stye, Dr. Christina Choe provides a range of treatment options to restore the health and appearance of your eyelid. Each stye treatment is tailored to your situation to provide safe and effective restoration of your eyelid.

What Is a Chalazion?

A stye (also called chalazion or hordeolum) is a bump that can appear on your eyelid due to a blocked oil-producing gland called the meibomian gland. The trapped oil causes inflammation which causes redness, swelling, irritation, and in rare cases an infection. There are 20–40 oil glands in each eyelid, so this is a very common condition. All it takes is for one to become blocked for issues to arise.

Will a Stye Go Away on Its Own?

Most styes will go away with time, patience, and warm compresses. But some patients can have stubborn styes that can last months or years or multiple styes at once. In many cases, a stye may come and go without causing much issue. However, other patients may have a more difficult time. If a stye becomes too large, it may begin causing symptoms such as discomfort, a highly visible growth, and even vision problems.

Are There Risk Factors for Styes?

While we know how styes occur, it is not known why styes occur. However, two known associated conditions include rosacea and demodex mites.

Rosacea is an inflammatory skin condition associated with skin redness, dilated blood vessels in the skin, and acne. Its symptoms can occur in cycles (or flare ups) of alternative severity. Environmental factors, diet, and stress can all trigger flare-ups, during which a stye is more likely to form due to inflammation.
Demodex mites are part of the normal makeup of the skin’s microbiome (the bacteria and other organisms that naturally live on our skin). However, it is thought that an overgrowth in the mite population or a person’s reaction to them may cause styes.

Should I Have Surgical Stye Removal?

Not all eyelid bumps are styes. So while many styes may resolve on their own, it is important to make sure that the bump is a stye and not any other condition. Dr. Choe will provide you with a thorough evaluation of your condition, your treatment options to treat the stye(s) you have, as well as treatment options for any underlying conditions. Not all patients will need surgery. In fact, gentler methods tend to be highly effective for eliminating a stye. We reserve surgery for more severe cases and larger styes.

Potential treatment options include:

Conservative management with medications and warm compresses
Injection of medications into the stye
Surgery to excise the stye
IPL (intense pulsed light), which can use external light energy to treat and resolve styes.

Book Your Consultation

If you have a stye or some other eyelid concern, you can book a consultation with Dr. Choe to come see what your options are. As a fellowship-trained oculoplastic surgeon, she has the experience and expertise to identify your concerns and create an optimal treatment plan.