Causes and Cure of Stye

A stye is a name of a skin disorder that refers to the tender, painful red bump located at the base of an eyelash or on, inside, or under the eyelid. In medical terms, it is called a Hordeolum.

Causes of a Stye

A sty can be caused due to an acute infection of the oil glands of the eyelid (meibomian glands), which commonly occurs when these glands get clogged.

Another possibility of getting affected by a stye comes, if your eyes get infected by a hair follicle at the base of the eyelash. It happens because it is also an infection and passes on the condition. The affected bacterium is the Staphylococcus aureus and is responsible for the majority of stye cases.

However, if further complications like the inflammation of the eyelid exist, it can lead to the development of a stye in the region. This is also called blepharitis.

Kinds of Stye

The term external Hordeolum is used to refer to a sty that develops at the base of an eyelash and involves a hair follicle of the eyelid, whereas the term internal Hordeolum refers to a sty arising due to blocked meibomian glands in the eyelid.

Usually a stye is considered harmless since in the majority of cases it ruptures on its own in a matter of days and gives relief from symptoms. However, there have been some cases reported wherein certain persons have needed medical/ surgical treatment for a sty.

This is not a common occurrence and a sty does not cause damage to the eye, referred to medically as intraocular damage.

Self Care and Home Remedies for Treating a Stye

Since a stye usually takes care of itself, there are only hygiene factors to consider in the self-care section of treating a stye. This includes the application of a hot compress for 10 minutes, three to four times daily to help decrease any pain and resolve the stye. This warm compress helps to speed rupture of the stye and gives relief.

• Alternately, get a tea bag wet in very warm water and place it on the sty. Leave it in place for a few minutes. This is usually beneficial in shrinking the stye to almost half its size and the healing property is attributed to the tannic acid in the tea.
• A popular home remedy for treating a stye is to rub clove spice in water and apply it over the stye to relief pain.
• Others swear that the use of a grated potato as a poultice has helped immensely in reducing the swelling in inflamed eyes.
• Still others prefer traditional herbal remedies like slitting an aloe leaf lengthwise and placing the pulpy side on the sore eye.
• Boiling 1 teaspoon of coriander seeds with a cupful of water makes for an excellent eyewash preparation to rinse the eyes with 3-4 times a day.
• Home remedy for eye stye that has grandma’s wisdom supporting it includes alum-aid. This involves taking a cup of water, dissolving 2-3 granules of alum in it and using this as eyewash.