Stye on inner eyelid?

October 14, 2018 5:08 PM

I've had persistent, annoying styes on my lower, outer eyelids before, but yesterday I woke up with a stye on my inner, upper eyelid. It's very tiny right now but it's pretty sore and even blinking feels a bit ouchy sometimes. The reading I've been doing about inner eyelid styes is distressing and I'm hoping some of you can tell me about your experience with these little devils.

I've read that inner eyelid styes rarely go away on their own and antibiotic drops won't do much good, so it's usually a question of "surgical" treatment. Is this a matter of a doctor just quickly popping the damn thing with a needle, or am I looking at some grotesque and/or painful ordeal? Should I expect shots in my eye, or being put under?

Some months back I had an outer eyelid stye that was REALLY persistent, I was all swollen up for weeks and weeks and it kept draining and it was horrible. Right now this new one is a tiny speck on my inner lid but it's pretty sore and knowing my luck it'll probably be a beast to treat. The info on inner eyelid styes is frustratingly vague where it's not terrifying, so please offer up your inner eyelid stye experiences. This stye in my eye is enough to make me cry! Ai, yi yi!

posted by Ursula Hitler to Health & Fitness (17 answers total)

I have had about four of them. I'm told they're called chalazions. They're very uncomfortable. All but one went away on its own, though even the ones that went away lasted up to a month.

Hot compress. Just hold a washcloth against your eye for a few minutes. Hot as you can stand it. Do this a couple times a day.

The one that didn't go away on its own had to be lanced. This involved a doctor taping my eyelid back and piercing it with a scalpel. And of course since my lid was taped back, I had no choice but to watch it happen up close. Yeah. It sucked about as much as it sounds but it didn't actually hurt at all. It was really all phycological, but it was not fun.

After she lanced it I wore a patch on it for a day, applied some goop a few times, and it was good to go.

So, try the hot compress thing and hopefully it'll eventually go away.

Good luck.
posted by bondcliff at 5:16 PM on October 14, 2018 [5 favorites]

I've found that washing it out is more effective than compresses or polysporin drops. Get a big wooden spoon, fill it with warm water from the tap, put your eye into it and open and shut it underwater. Keep refilling the spoon while blinking under water for a minute or so. I did it recently while on holiday with a clean cupped hand and was successful. Do it sereveral times a day for a few days and see what happens.
posted by bonobothegreat at 5:26 PM on October 14, 2018 [2 favorites]

I just got over one on my inner eyelid. Never had one before, went to urgent care to find out it was a stye. Warm compresses recommended to bring it to a head. Antibiotics prescribed if compress doesn't work. Compress didn't work. Antibiotic eyedrops, used as prescribed (3 times/day for 8 days in my case) and it went away by second day, well before the course of antibiotics was finished.

Entirely possible it goes away without any treatment at all, but I wasn't willing to gamble how long it would take. If you have a persistent problem with them, maybe your doc can offer some alternative advice how to avoid/treat them?
posted by 2N2222 at 5:29 PM on October 14, 2018

I've had some problems with chalazions and styes (caused by blocked meibomian glands on my eyelid) for years so I can sympathize! The first thing to do is warm compresses and an eyelid massage which will help to unblock the dried oil in those glands. Once when I had a really stubborn one it took a few rounds of antibiotics (like doxycycline) and daily treatment with Tobradex, a steroid/antibiotic ointment, to get better. Anyway, if it doesn't get better with the warm compresses see an eye doctor! You want to nip that thing in the bud.
posted by plasticpalacealice at 5:44 PM on October 14, 2018

Huh. I’ve had a number of styles and I never realized that there was any such thing as an outer eyelid style. I’ve only ever had inner eyelid styles and they’ve always gone away on their own. Last time I did go to the doctor and was told to use warm compresses.
posted by Kriesa at 6:02 PM on October 14, 2018

Hot compresses work, but they suck, because it's hard to keep the water warm for long enough to do its job. I got best results from an old-fashioned hot water bottle filled with very hot water, then covered with a soft, damp cloth, then placed on my eye.

Also baby shampoo used gently on the eyelids in the shower a few times a week help keep your eyes clear of these, for those prone to them.
posted by skewed at 6:34 PM on October 14, 2018 [1 favorite]

I've had two treated surgically, and many others treated the compress way. For me, the surgery (eyelid clip, scalpel) was unpleasant enough that now I use compresses like crazy at the first sign of them. My compress style is to use a teabag (black tea - which may be a folk remedy but it seems to work) dipped repeatedly in boiling water to keep it as hot as possible. I compress for a long time - 15-30 minutes at a time, and several times a day.

For prevention, I've learned that I need to gently scrub my eyelids every night when I wash them, using a gentle eye-safe soap and a paper towel for a little abrasive action.
posted by xo at 7:18 PM on October 14, 2018 [1 favorite]

Good advice above. But also know that recurring styles tend to be viral in nature, so taking L-Lysine supplements is a good preventative. And I’ve had success with a course of anti-virals instead of anti-biotics to make persistent ones go away.

Stye lancing is not as terrible as it seems. I had a really bad one while living in Mexico and honestly the lidocaine injections were the worst part, and only because it’s a volume of fluid going into a small area. Numbing cream works wonders, but you can still feel this kind of pressure a bit. Once that kicks in you can’t feel a thing and it’s a super fast procedure.

Yes to 30 minute hot compresses 4x a day. Annoying but worth it. I sit in the kitchen and heat up a damp washcloth over and over in the microwave.
posted by ananci at 7:55 PM on October 14, 2018

I had a small one of these and panicked after doing the same scary googling. I compulsively used warm compresses (like, every spare moment), washed it a few times a day with baby shampoo, and massaged it a lot. Went away after a week or less, can’t remember the exact number of days. No recurrances.

This thread is a lot more encouraging than what I (and seemingly you) found online. Looks like a good number of people have had them just go away! Good luck.
posted by sometamegazelle at 7:57 PM on October 14, 2018 [1 favorite]

I’m not necessarily recommending this, but I’ve had a few small ones and I just lance them myself with no consequences.

So the better advice is to do the mild stuff (like compresses) and see a doctor for anything else, but there are more diy options if you are so inclined.
posted by Dip Flash at 9:12 PM on October 14, 2018

Oh another thing, you can get moist heat eye compress masks that you heat up in the microwave. The one I have is made by Bruner, works really well for me.
posted by plasticpalacealice at 10:29 PM on October 14, 2018 [1 favorite]

I'm prone to these because of rosacea. I've always been able to resolve them with moist hot compresses. I use a clean washcloth soaked in hot hot hot water. Alternatively I have a hot shower and stand with my face directly in the stream of water for as long as I can stand.
posted by Secret Sparrow at 11:17 PM on October 14, 2018

Hot compress advice: I've found that using a tea bag actually works pretty well for treating styes. Just make tea as normal, then fish out the bag and let it cool a little so you don't burn yourself, wrap in a paper towel or something to asborb the liquid and gently hold on your eye. If you use peppermint or something it may also help the swelling. Plus you now have a nice cup of tea to sip while you treat your eye!
posted by fight or flight at 12:10 AM on October 15, 2018 [2 favorites]

last time I had this the dr recommended a hot compress made with (dry) rice inside a clean sock. Holds the heat nicely. Also (bizarrely) an unpeeled hard boiled egg in a sock holds the heat and is the right shape.
posted by fingersandtoes at 7:03 AM on October 15, 2018

If you're prone to styes I think a regular regimen of Sterilid or Ocusoft (foamy eyelid soap) and massage will help a lot.
posted by acidic at 9:42 AM on October 15, 2018

I had one lanced at the ophthalmologist's office two weeks ago. It was pretty unpleasant.

I tried compresses and antibiotic ointment, but it persisted for two months. Numbing drops, then an injection, right in the eyelid. Eyelid was clamped back, then the lancing. However, it didn't really pop; the doc used the term "scooping out" as opposed to draining. And scoop he did, pulling and digging for two or three minutes. Wasn't very painful, but, yeah, as xo says above, it wasn't fun, either.

Doc also kept repeating the term "bloody tears." He advised me to wear an eye patch until I got back to the car, but then remove it. Yeah, bloody tears. By the time I drove back to work, about an hour, the eye looked red and irritated, but I could see fine and didn't need to keep it covered. A few pinkish tears for the rest of the day, a little bruising the next, but all better day 3.
posted by pupsocket at 12:49 PM on October 15, 2018

Response by poster: **STYE UPDATE!!**

So, I thought the tiny bump in my inner eyelid was the source of the pain, but since I posted about it I've noticed I have a much larger, more conventionally stye-looking bump right at the outer edge of my upper eyelid, along the tear line, and that's where the pain seems to be coming from. I don't know how I missed it before. I now think that's the actual stye and the tiny bump inside my eyelid may just be a tiny bump that's always been there. A stye on my outer eye is a lot less scary to me than an inner eyelid stye, but I'm planning to hit urgent care tomorrow and get this situation looked at anyhow.

Thank you to everybody who's offered their stories and advice! I've been using compresses and I tried the spoon thing. When I was having stye problems months ago I saw an eye doctor who was adamant that I use this whole system where you put Vaseline along your lower lid tear line before bed and then you scrub it off the next morning. I've yet to find anybody else suggesting that and I'm still not sure if it's a good idea. A few days back, before the stye showed up, my eye was teary and I thought it might be a plugged duct or something so I did the Vaseline thing... and the next morning I woke up with a stye! So I don't know if the Vaseline didn't work, or if maybe it GAVE me a stye.

I'd be curious if anybody wants to elaborate on the eyelid massage thing. How do you do that?
posted by Ursula Hitler at 2:50 PM on October 15, 2018