Sticky eyes: Causes, treatment, and prevention

Why Does My Son Keep Getting Styes?

Your son's stye is also known as a chalazion or Meibomian cyst. It is a small lump on the eyelid due to a blocked oil gland, and can occur on any eyelid.

Your son's eyelids contain many oil producing glands called Meibomian glands. These can occasionally become plugged and swollen, just like a pimple or spot can develop on the skin.

Usually a stye clears within a month or so but sometimes it can turn into a persistent lump, as with your son. Styes are usually not related to any disease and do not harm the eye or vision.

You mention your son's immune system. Although any persistent skin infection should alert you to possible low immunity or diabetes these conditions are unlikely if your son is otherwise fit and well.

Your GP can check your son's urine for sugar to make sure he is not diabetic.

However, blood tests are probably not necessary unless he does not respond to the treatment outlines below.

Styes usually get better on their own or with medical treatment. Antibiotics by mouth are, as you have found, rarely helpful with a persistent stye as the lump is due to an inflammation and blockage of the gland, rather than infection.

However antibiotic drops or ointment can be helpful to keep down the bacterial count of the eyelid.

The best treatment is hot compresses to the eyelid. Wrap a hot wet dishcloth in cling film to keep the heat in and place it over your son's affected eyelid as often as possible. This often brings the stye to a head and allows it to drain out.

If this doesn't help - and it may not if your son has had the stye for nine months - I would suggest his GP refers him to an eye specialist (ophthalmologist).

Your son may need to have the stye removed by a small operation under general anaesthetic to stop it recurring. This may be done as a day case.

We recommend readers seek personal medical attention in appropriate circumstances.

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'I'm A Doctor - If You Keep Getting Styes Here's What You Need To Do'

A stye is a small, painful lump that can appear on or inside the eyelid or around the eye.

They're considered common and should clear up on their own within one to two weeks.

But one doctor said if styes reoccur it's because you haven't dealt with the underlying cause.

London doctor Dr Seemed Mezher has more than 184,000 followers on TikTok, where he issued the advice.

Dr Mezher started with the first step to take to treat a stye. He explained: "When oil glands underneath your eyes get blocked they can get infected and that can lead to the formation of the stye, or if they just get blocked then it can cause something called chalazion.

"Regardless of which one you have, both can be treated with warm compresses which are important to help unblock the glands, and it should be applied for two to three minutes at least four times a day."

In some cases, styes may also need to be treated with antibiotics.

But if styes keep coming back, Dr Mezher you need to deal with the underlying cause - oily eyelids.

He advised: "You can get these eyelid wipes which are made for this to use twice a day. But they can get expensive quite quickly.

"So a good alternative is using baby shampoo."

Dr Mezher recommended dabbing it on some cotton swabs and wiping your eyelids twice a day.

What Is A Chalazion? Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis, Treatment, And Prevention

To help the cysts heal, doctors recommend applying warm compresses to the affected eyelid for 10 to 15 minutes, 3 to 5 times a day. (2) "The warm compresses kind of 'melt' that oil and allow it to drain through," says Mehta.

You can also try to help the chalazion drain by gently massaging the eyelid for several minutes a day; but never try to push, squeeze, or "pop" the cyst. (8)

Medication Options

Doctors do not typically treat chalazions with systemic medication, like oral antibiotics. But sometimes a chalazion can prompt an inflammatory reaction or become infected, says Mehta. "Depending on the diagnosis, we will treat it with a topical steroid or antibiotic, or an antibiotic/steroid combination ointment or drop," she says.

Alternative and Complementary Therapies

The best treatment for a chalazion is a clean, warm, moist washcloth placed over the closed eyes a few times a day. Some people use warm tea bags, but there is no evidence that this is any better than the recommended warm washcloth. (9)

Good hygiene can help reduce your chances of developing chalazia: (8)

Wash your hands often, especially before touching your face and eyes.

If you wear contact lenses, wash your hands before and after removing them. Follow the recommended procedures for cleaning your lenses, and if you wear daily- or weekly-use lenses, discard them on the schedule recommended by your eye doctor.

Wash your face every night before bed.

Throw away old makeup and replace eye makeup every two to three months. Don't share or use another person's eye makeup.

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