Hordeolum Treatment

What is Hordeolum?

Simply put, Hordeolum (which is more commonly referred as a ’stye’) is a blockage of the sebaceous glands at the base of the eyelash. The hair follicles cannot form and function properly thus leading to a painful, inflammed infection in the gland that may cause further irritation of the eye from scabbing and flaking remenants. The infection is a result of the Staphylococcus aureus bacteria strain, a common catalyst in eyelid infections.

It is commonly confused with Chalazion, which occurs around the eyelids instead and is generally painless. In time the infection may cure itself, but other techniques and methods of treatment are recommended for faster, safer Stye removal instead.

Internal Hordeolum

Affects a much wider area of the eyelids and meibomian glands. In most cases it is more serious then external hordeolum.

External Hordeolum

The less serious version, it affects the base of the eyelash. This article will discuss and reference external hordeolums more commonly, as styes are more common.

Hordeolum Symptoms

• Redness - common with any sort of eye irritation.
• Swelling - As pus forms to fight the infection.
• Tenderness - common with inflammation.
• Pain - due to the swelling and inflammation, the area around the infection will be painful.
• Sensitivity - the swelling will be increasingly painful to touch.
• Throbbing - not particularly common in hordeolum, yet remains an occassionally reported symptom.

Hordeolum Treatment

Factors such as age should be taken into account, especially for children as they can react negatively to particular treatments or have undiagnosed allergies. In due time hordeolum will correct itself, however to speed up the healing process (or things you should avoid doing that slow it down) the following methods are recommended:

Warm Compresses:

A heat pack, or hot cloth pressed against the eyelid frequently can help, several times a day for up to a few minutes at a time.

Eye Baths

Consistently dipping your eye in sanitized water with a tiny bit of disinfectant can work wonders, rapidly increasing the heal time on stye’s.

Lancing a Hordeolum

If the stye is incredibly persistent and/or painful, lancing (popping) the infection with an incision in order to drain the pus and infection can be a last resort. Due to the fragile nature of the eyelids/eyes, If you’re not confident doing it yourself it is best for a doctor to perform the lancing.

Popping Styes

Rarely effective, popping styes yourself may seem like an option after being restless with it, yet they are more difficult to pop that a simple pimple, so more irritation, swelling and even bruising may form. Not recommended.

Hordeolum Pictures

The following sty and pictures of hordeolum are taken from patients.