My son is obsessed with keeping his hair long. As long as I can still see his eyes, I’m good with it, but I came home from work the other day and it was in fact right in his eyes. It was time for a haircut.
I scooped up his hair just so I could see him. Staring back at me was a swollen and red eyelid. “Hey!” I exclaimed, “What’s up with your eye?” He told me he thought he got bit by a mosquito.
In my past career as an optician I had seen this type of angry eye before and knew it was something more than a bug bite. I was 99.9% sure it was a sty. I quickly washed my hands and held up his eyelid to take a closer look. Gross! It looked like a pimple on the inside rim of his eyelid.
What causes a sty?
Sties are usually caused by obstructed oil glands in the eyelid and are infected by bacteria. Reasons include:
- Hormone changes
- Stress
- Outdated or infected cosmetics
- Hygiene
Symptoms
- Swelling of the eyelid
- A lump on the top of bottom of eyelid
- Pain
- Redness
- Crusting of the eyelid
Warm compresses several times a day are the most common treatment for most sties. Your optometrist may prescribe antibiotics or pain medicine depending on the situation. In some cases, the eye doctor may have lance the sty to help it heal faster. It is not recommended to squeeze the sty, as this can worsen the infection. Makeup and contacts can also spread infection during treatment.
I immediately set up an eye appointment with my VSP doctor. I wanted to make sure my assessment was correct, and if it was, my eye doctor would know how to treat it.
After our visit he prescribed the normal home remedies and gave us a prescription for some eye drops to help the process along. Within a couple days, he was good as new. The long hair is still there, but now he keeps it just above his eyes.
