Eye Stye with My Little Eye

Ever felt like everyone is staring at your stye?

Not only are your eyes beautiful, they are also pretty amazing. For instance, did you know that out of all the muscles in your body, those that control your eyes are actually the most active? Or that you blink approximately 17 times every minute and not just to lubricate your eyes, but also to give your mind a quick break.

Of all the qualities that make your eyes so impressive are the same qualities that make them so sensitive. Sometimes it feels like the smallest of things can irritate them. A ceiling fan? Yes.. watch out for watering eyes. Fatigue or stress? Prepare for eye twitching. Rubbing your eyes? You guessed it brace yourself for a stye.

While none of these symptoms are enjoyable, a stye may be just the worst of them all. If you have ever had a stye, then you know exactly what we are talking about.

Not only are these swollen, painful bumps super sensitive, but they happen to form in the most awkward place possible – the edge of the eyelid. Let’s not forget that styes may also cause discharge, tearing crusting on the eyelid and a scratchy feeling in the eye. It also seems like they pop-up at the most random times, like the night before a big event.

While that stye may seem like it’s out of the blue, more likely, it’s actually the result of a small infection on your eyelid. This is usually caused by the bacteria, staphylococcus aureus. Now before you freak out at the thought of staph in your eye, this common bacteria isn’t always the culprit.

In fact, there are a number of common factors that may increase your risk of getting a stye, such as:

• You have had one before (Who hasn’t?)
• You wear contact lenses
• You are not keeping your eye area clean
• You are using old makeup or not taking it off ( Make sure you change your mascara every three months & make sure you take your makeup off each night).

Even though styes usually disappear on their own in 7-10days, sometimes that just isn’t fast enough. Here are some tips to help the healing process along.

• Apply a warm, damp compress for 10minutes, three or four times a day.
• Keep the area near your eye clean, using products like sterilid to cleanse the area and decrease the stop concentration.
• Avoid touching or rubbing your eyes
• Skip contact lenses and opt for your handy standby glasses instead
• Most importantly: DO NOT squeeze or pick at it, this will only make it worse and it may spread the infection.

Keep an Eye on your stye

There is no denying that styes can be painful and annoying, but the good news is they are only temporary. However, if you notice redness or swelling of your entire eyelid or it feels like something is in your eye, its time to seek out the advice of your skilled Optometrist incase it may be something more sinister.