$Unique_ID{PAR00158}
$Pretitle{}
$Title{Medical Advice:  Styes}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{
Editors of Consumer Guide
Chasnoff, Ira J}
$Subject{Stye Styes Swelling pain redness eyelid swells eyelids swell pus head
Aspirin acetaminophen antibiotics antibiotic ointment ointments fever headache
appetite loss lethargy boil boils oil gland sweat glands staphylococcus
staphylococci staphylococcal bacteria bacterium bacterial infection infections
points eyelashes eyes eye lid open drain}
$Log{
Stye*0015801.tif}

Your Child:  A Medical Guide


Styes


     Quick Reference

     SYMPTOMS
     - Swelling, pain, and redness of the eyelid
     - Formation of pus and a "head"

     HOME CARE
     - Bathe a stye with warm water several times a day.
     - Aspirin or acetaminophen help reduce pain.
     - Apply antibiotic ointment to prevent reinfection.

     PRECAUTIONS
     - Styes do not cause redness of the white of the eye.  Consult your
       doctor if redness appears.
     - See a doctor if a stye recurs or if it is accompanied by fever,
       headache, loss of appetite, or lethargy.
     - Washcloths and towels used by the infected child should be kept
       separate from those used by other family members.


     Styes are boils that occur in the oil or sweat glands in the upper or
lower eyelids.  Styes are usually caused by staphylococcus bacteria, and can
spread from person to person through direct contact.  Styes tend to occur in
crops, because the bacteria in the pus that forms in the stye spread easily to
infect other glands in the eyelids.

SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS

     Styes develop like boils.  The area at the edge of the eyelid becomes
increasingly red, painful, tender, and swollen.  After two to three days, pus
forms, and the stye "points" (that is, a yellow head appears at the edge of
the lid near the base of the eyelashes).  Styes usually break spontaneously,
drain, and heal.  Occasionally, a stye will heal without pointing or draining.
     Styes differ from insect bites and cysts in that styes are painful and
tender.  They occur near the margins of the eyelids, and they usually come to
a head.  Insect bites itch, are usually not painful, and do not come to a
head.  Cysts are lumps or swellings that show through the undersurface of the
eyelids as pink or pale yellow spots.  They usually are not tender.
Sometimes, however, they become infected and, like styes, are red, tender, and
painful.  Unlike styes, cysts persist for some time and do not come to a head.

HOME CARE

     Place cotton balls or a washcloth soaked in warm water on the eyelids for
ten to 20 minutes several times a day.  Give aspirin or acetaminophen to
reduce pain.  Do not treat cysts unless they are infected; then, treat them in
the same way you would a stye.

PRECAUTIONS

  -  The whites of the eyes do not become red as a result of a stye.  Consult
     your doctor if redness appears.
  -  Your child should be seen by a doctor if he has one large or several
     small recurring styes or if he has a stye that is accompanied by fever,
     headache, loss of appetite, or lethargy.
  -  Styes can be contagious.  Keep the infected child's towels and washcloths
     separate from those used by other family members.

MEDICAL TREATMENT

     Your doctor may prescribe an antibiotic to treat one large or several
small recurring styes.  It is rarely necessary to open and drain a stye.  The
doctor may take a culture of the nose and throat secretions to find out where
the bacteria are located.
     Your doctor may surgically remove an infected cyst.  However, cysts often
disappear spontaneously in months or years.  An infected cyst is treated in
the same way as a stye.

RELATED TOPICS:  Boils; Conjunctivitis; Insect bites and stings