Swelling of the eyelid due to infection of an oil gland
This article is about swelling of the eyelid due to infection of an oil gland. For the similar-looking uninfected condition, seeChalazion. For the enclosure for raising pigs, seeSty. For other uses, seeSty (disambiguation).
Astye, also known as ahordeolum, is a bacterial infection of anoil gland in theeyelid.[4] This results in a red tender bump at the edge of the eyelid.[1][5] The outside or the inside of the eyelid can be affected.[3]
Often a stye will go away without any specific treatment in a few days or weeks.[3] Recommendations to speed improvement includewarm compresses.[5] Occasionallyantibiotic eye ointment may be recommended.[6] While these measures are often recommended, there is little evidence for use in internal styes.[3] The frequency at which styes occur is unclear, though they may occur at any age.[2]
Stye complications occur in very rare cases. However, the most frequent complication of styes is progression to achalazion that causes cosmetic deformity, corneal irritation, and often requires surgical removal.[10] Complications may also arise from the improper surgical lancing, and mainly consist of disruption of lash growth, lid deformity or lidfistula. Large styes may interfere with one's vision.[citation needed]
Eyelidcellulitis is another potential complication of eye styes, which is a generalized infection of the eyelid. Progression of a stye to a systemic infection (spreading throughout the body) is extremely rare, and only a few instances of such spread have been recorded.[11]
A stye is caused by a bacterial infection. The bacteria areStaphylococcus aureus in about 95% of cases.[12] The infection leads to the blocking of anoil gland at the base of theeyelash. Styes are experienced by people of all ages. Styes can be triggered bypoor nutrition,sleep deprivation, lack of hygiene, lack of water, and rubbing of the eyes. Styes can be secondary toblepharitis or a deficiency inimmunoglobulin.[13]
Stye prevention is closely related to proper hygiene. Properhand washing can reduce the risks of developing not only styes, but also many other types of infections.
Upon awakening, application of a warm washcloth to the eyelids for one to two minutes may be beneficial in decreasing the occurrence of styes by liquefying the contents of theoil glands of the eyelid and thereby preventing blockage.[14]
To prevent styes, cosmetics and cosmetic eye tools should not be shared among people. Like with all infections, regular hand washing is essential, and the eyes should not be rubbed or touched with unclean hands. Contaminated eye makeup should be discarded and sharing of washcloths or face towels should be curtailed, to avoid spreading the infection between individuals.[15][16] Breaking the stye may spread bacteria contained in the pus and should be avoided.[17]
Most cases of styes resolve on their own within one to two weeks, without professional care.[3] The primary treatment is application of warm compresses.[medical citation needed] As a part of self-care at home, people may cleanse the affected eyelid with tap water or with a mild, nonirritatingsoap orshampoo (such as baby shampoo) to help clean crusted discharge. Cleansing must be done gently and while the eyes are closed to prevent eye injuries.[18]
People with styes should avoid eye makeup (e.g., eyeliner), lotions, and wearing contact lenses, since these can aggravate and spread the infection (sometimes to the cornea).[19] People are advised not to lance the stye themselves, as serious infection can occur.[19] Pain relievers such asacetaminophen may be used.[citation needed]
Antibiotics are normally given to people with multiple styes or with styes that do not seem to heal, and to people who haveblepharitis orrosacea.[citation needed]
Incision and drainage is performed if resolution does not begin in the next 48 hours after warm compresses are started. Medical professionals will sometimes lance a particularly persistent or irritating stye with a needle to accelerate its draining.[22]
Surgery is the last resort in stye treatment. Styes that do not respond to any type of therapies are usually surgically removed. Stye surgery is performed by an ophthalmologist, and generally under local anesthesia. The procedure consists of making a small incision on the inner or outer surface of the eyelid, depending if the stye is pointing externally or not. After the incision is made, the pus is drained out of the gland, and very smallsutures are used to close the lesion. Sometimes the removed stye is sent for ahistopathological examination to investigate possibility of skin cancer.[citation needed]
A 2017 Cochrane review found low-certainty and low-quality evidence thatacupuncture helps in hordeolum compared with antibiotics or warm compresses.[23] as well as that acupuncture plus conventional treatment may yield improvement, though they could not rule out placebo or observer effect, since the studies reviewed either had no positive control, were not blinded, or both.[23]
Although styes are harmless in most cases and complications are very rare, styes often recur. They do not cause intraocular damage, meaning they do not affect the eye. Styes normally heal on their own by rupturing within a few days to a week causing the relief of symptoms, but if one does not improve or it worsens within two weeks, a doctor's opinion should be sought. Few people require surgery as part of stye treatment. With adequate treatment, styes tend to heal quickly and without complications.[citation needed]
The prognosis is better if one does not attempt to squeeze or puncture the stye, as infection may spread to adjacent tissues. Also, patients are recommended to call a doctor if they encounter problems with vision, the eyelid bump becomes very painful, the stye bleeds or reoccurs, or the eyelid or eyes becomes red.[24]
The wordstye (first recorded in the 17th century) is probably aback-formation fromstyany (first recorded in the 15th century),[25] which in turn comes fromstyan pluseye,[26] the former of which in turn comes from the old Englishstīġend, meaning "riser", from the verbstīgan, "to rise". The older formstyan is still used in Ulster Scots today.
The homonymsty found in the combinationpigsty has a slightly different origin, namely it comes from the Old Englishstiġ-fearh—fearh (farrow) is the Old English word for "piglet"—wherestiġ meant "hall" (cf.steward), possibly an early Old Norse loanword, which could be cognate with the wordstīgan above.[27]
The synonymous late Latin expression ishordeolum, a modulation of the wordhordeolus, which is related tohordeum ("barley"), after its resemblance to abarleycorn. In Czech, a sty is calledječné zrno (fromječmen "barley" andzrno "seed or grain"); in German, it is calledGerstenkorn (barleycorn). In Hebrew it is called שעורה Seh-oh-Ráh ("barley"). In Polish it is calledjęczmień ("barley"), in Russian ячменьyachmen ("barley"). In Hungarian it is calledárpa ("barley"). In Turkish it is calledarpacık (small barley, barleylet)[citation needed]
^abcdeCarlisle, RT; Digiovanni, J (15 July 2015). "Differential Diagnosis of the Swollen Red Eyelid".American Family Physician.92 (2):106–12.PMID26176369.
^abcdDeibel, JP; Cowling, K (May 2013). "Ocular inflammation and infection".Emergency Medicine Clinics of North America.31 (2):387–97.doi:10.1016/j.emc.2013.01.006.PMID23601478.
