A stye will develop in the eye when an oil gland at the end of it becomes infected. It will look similar to a pimple and it can grow either outside of the lid or inside of the lid. There are a few things for you to know about them if you have just recently spotted one. Don’t question this symptom; it’s very common amongst people who deal with styes more often than not.
The first symptoms of a stye are the redness, swelling and pain associated with it. It will most likely feel very tender to the touch. After the symptoms appear a smaller pimple will develop in the area that is affected and the eye will usually get extremely swollen; every once in awhile the whole eye will swell up. These do not typically cause any vision problems and your ability to see well shouldn’t be at all affected by the stye.
Causes
The cause stems from staphylococcal bacteria which is something that is found in the nose and then very easily transferred to the eye when you are rubbing your face. Are styes contagious? They are – but, believe it or not everyone has this type of bacteria in their body. At any age, all of us have a great potential to develop one of these without having even been contaminated by an outside source.
If you have one then you will not want the bacteria to come into contact with someone else’s eye because it could very well cause them to develop a stye of their own or a similar infection. Make sure that if you’re undergoing one currently, you keep your hands clean and you don’t share any pillowcases, towels or sheets with anyone around you.
Most of these will get healed within some days and you can speed this process up by applying a hot pad or compression onto the area for about 10-15 minutes about three times a day for a couple of days. This will help to relieve the pain and also bring it to a head, kind of like if you were treating a pimple, and after it comes to a head, it is going to rupture, drain and heal.
It is not a good idea to pop a stye because you need to allow it to heal all on its own. This is going to form inside of the eyelid and if you attempt to rupture it before it is ready to begin the healing process then you may turn the stye into another issue. If you find that this is a frequent problem for you then you may want to consider getting prescribed to some sort of an antibiotic ointment after you have confided in a doctor. He may also recommend that you use an already moist cleaning paid which can be used throughout the day for hygiene purposes to reduce your risk of obtaining one. You may eventually notice that your eye is watering frequently or that there is sensitivity to light.