Sty in eye

[Saga]

So I don't think it's a full sty yet, knock on wood, but this morning I felt what seemed like pressure on both my eyeballs when I blinked. Finally did some examining once I got off work and noticed that it's my eyelids that are sensitive. On my left eyelid, the bottom part of the top lid looks a little bit swollen but it's hard to tell. Never had a sty before but my boss had one last summer and the thing looked terrible.

Anyone have any experience with them? Can I catch these early and try to stop them before they're fully blown? What are some treatment options?

[zoobernut]

I get sty's every once in a while and I have never learned of a treatment for them other than stop rubbing your eyes. From what I was always told they are just irritated or blocked tear ducts and you should keep your face clean and your hands away from your eyes during the day when your hands are really dirty.

[Celestialstrife]

Put a warm compress on it. hope it gets better soon!

[miokomioko]

Get a clean cloth of some sort, soak a bit of it in hot water (just not hot enough to burn your skin/eye), then compress it nice and hard on the affected eyelid until the cloth is no longer hot. Do this twice or so a few times a day and it should keep the sty from getting any bigger.

I used to get stys a bunch when I was younger, but the few times I've got them as an adult, the above method has always nipped them in the bud.

edit: kinda' beat

[zoobernut]

Those are good tricks and make sense I will have to try that next time I get one which will hopefully be never!

[Howie Roary]

Oh my, don't die

[Saga]

Thanks for the tips guys, I'll try out these suggestions.

[Moss]

Get a clean cloth of some sort, soak a bit of it in hot water (just not hot enough to burn your skin/eye), then compress it nice and hard on the affected eyelid until the cloth is no longer hot. Do this twice or so a few times a day and it should keep the sty from getting any bigger.

I used to get stys a bunch when I was younger, but the few times I've got them as an adult, the above method has always nipped them in the bud.

edit: kinda' beat

This on all counts. It was a common affliction when I was a lad.

[Mazmaz]

what the fuck is a sty...

[Cephius]

No joke, put a warm used teabag on it. It'll draw out the infection and usually clears it right up.

[Chun Liroy]

No joke, put a warm used teabag on it. It'll draw out the infection and usually clears it right up.

^Plus it feels really fucking good.

[Saga]

No joke, put a warm used teabag on it. It'll draw out the infection and usually clears it right up.

Serious? So wait, explain the logistics -- boil water, make tea like normal, etc. Then what? Take the teabag out, dab off some of the excess water so it's not dripping and just lay it over my eye? Does it matter what kind of tea? I only have this kind in the apartment: http://shop.goodearth.com/Good-Earth...h@OriginalTeas

[Day]

if anyone knows about teabagging it's leroy

[Chun Liroy]

Serious? So wait, explain the logistics -- boil water, make tea like normal, etc. Then what? Take the teabag out, dab off some of the excess water so it's not dripping and just lay it over my eye? Does it matter what kind of tea? I only have this kind in the apartment: http://shop.goodearth.com/Good-Earth...h@OriginalTeas

No idea about the tea, but yeah pretty much. use a paper towel so it doesn't drip.

[Mellema]

I wouldn't recommend using tea bags. Tea is high in tannin which is an astringent. It can cause the skin to tighten up and further close the pores, which is the opposite of what you want to have happen.

[Kerberoz]

I usually only get those from like 20+hrs with contacts in, and they go away after a couple days of not wearing them. Also, wash your pillow cases often, so you don't end up rubbing more bacteria into your eyes when you sleep.

[Titanss]

what the fuck is a sty...

they look nasty as hell when they get big is all I know. My buddy was fucking with me and said they were contagious when we had to be around a guy with one

[Cephius]

Serious? So wait, explain the logistics -- boil water, make tea like normal, etc. Then what? Take the teabag out, dab off some of the excess water so it's not dripping and just lay it over my eye? Does it matter what kind of tea? I only have this kind in the apartment: http://shop.goodearth.com/Good-Earth...h@OriginalTeas

Yep, just make yourself a cup of tea, and put the used (drained) bag over the eye. Hotter the better but don't burn yourself. An hour or so did it for me but I had a minor one. If you don't want to do that then a damp cotton cloth should help some.

I wouldn't recommend using tea bags. Tea is high in tannin which is an astringent. It can cause the skin to tighten up and further close the pores, which is the opposite of what you want to have happen.

if he has a stye the eye is already infected. you want an antibacterial which most tea (specifically dandelion) is naturally. The tannin acid will tighten up the skin but that's different from closing pores.

[mallister]

yeah ok, gross out time...

2006 or so, i get this eye infection. some clogged tear ducts. it's really hard to do justice to this without a picture, but it was bad enough where they wouldn't let me come back to work for a week (hospital policy w/ eye infections; if you can't prove it's NOT pinkeye, you stay your happy ass home). well, the swelling and the gooo eventually receeded somewhat, but i couldn't shake it entirely. it'd flare up every month or so; painful and nasty. some days it oozed. this went on for six months; could never shake it with antibiotics, drops, you name it. i missed a couple of weeks worth of work, all told. boss was hella pissed.

so i get a job overseas, and decide 'well if i'm going to a 3rd world shithole for a year, i maybe should go and insist they do something about this while i still have at least some access to real medical care.' the doc looks at my eye and tells me to come back next week, and be prepared to have someone else drive me home. they took what basically amounted to dental tools and pics and drained all the ducts in my left eye. you would not believe the shit that came out of there. i wished i had pictures; we're talking the funk of 40,000 years. hurt pretty much like you'd expect it to hurt when a very nice lady sticks a bunch of needles into your eyelids to numb them before rooting a bunch of puss and snot out of your tearducts, too.

i went to afghanistan a week later, with an eyepatch. going through customs was fun.

tl;dr: get that shit looked at and taken care of, pronto.

[Saga]

Jesus christ, that sounds terrible. Also I'm trying the teabag thing right now and it stings like all fucking goddamn hell. Ceph, what kind of tea did you use for your thing? And did it sting the entire time?