Our eyes help us do so many things. They help us appreciate the world around us and move through it safely. Unfortunately, when our eyes experience issues, so much of our life has to be put on hold. Keep reading to learn how to identify a stye, and help it heal faster.
Do I Have a Stye?
Styes are common enough that many of us can identify them pretty quickly. But if you’ve never had one, you might be confused about what is going on with your eye. You might have a stye if you experience some of the following:
- Tenderness around the eye
- A solid red bump on or in the eyelid
- Redness
- Itchiness
- Eyes watering often
- Sensitivity to bright lights
- Crust forming along the eyelid
- Irritating feeling that something is in the eye
Styes are uncomfortable, unsightly, and can disrupt your plans. Help your stye resolve itself quickly by treating it as soon as you identify it.
If you shower in the morning, take a little extra time to let the warm steam soak into your eye. Warm, moist air can help loosen the stye and help it heal a little faster. Ideally, you’ll be able to gently press a warm wet washcloth to the eye a few times throughout the day for between five to ten minutes, too. This helps keep the eye clean, but also encourages the stye to drain on its own. If you try to drain or pop the stye, you can end up making it worse so resist the urge to be too harsh. Keep the eye clean of any crust or build up, and avoid touching your eye any other time.
Try to avoid wearing contacts for the time being, since they will carry bacteria around and likely reinfect the eye. Wearing glasses can also help hide the stye by distracting people you work or interact with through bolder frames.
If makeup is okay for work, then thick eyeliner or blended out eyeshadow might help hide the bulge of a stye on your eyelid. Just don’t use anything you love or be very careful to not contaminate brushes or makeup with bacteria from the stye.
Styes will usually resolve themselves after a few days, so keep your eye clean and try to avoid bothering it while you have one.
Schedule a Consultation
At Summit Healthcare we offer a wide range of services. For more information schedule a consultation at any of our conveniently located offices in Arizona.
