Chalazion AKA Stye Treatment Provided by a Burlingame CA Ophthalmologist

At Dr. Cooper Pediatric Ophthalmology & Family Eye Care, we not only conduct eye exams for patients in the Burlingame, CA area, our ophthalmologist also offers treatment for eye conditions including styes and chalazia. These particular eye ailments are usually harmless, but in some cases, you may experience discomfort that lasts and may even interrupt your daily life. We’re able to ease your discomfort and prevent the condition from getting worse. 

man with a stye in Burlingame

What is Stye or Chalazia?

Styes and chalazia are lumps on the eyelid. These lumps are usually nothing serious, but styes do cause a great deal pain and discomfort. And both conditions look unsightly. It’s usually easy to differentiate between a stye and chalazia because chalazia are usually larger and don’t hurt. Styes tend to appear as tiny, red lumps on your eyelid, and they usually cause pain.

Styes are an infection caused by bacteria. Chalazias develop from clogged oil ducts. Styes tend to develop closer to the lash line than chalazia. Styes don’t typically affect your vision, but chalazia will if it gets large enough and so will a stye if the infection is serious enough. 

Diagnosing a Stye

Our ophthalmologist can usually identify if you have a stye or chalazia by visually examining you and noticing the appearance of a red bump. She can oftentimes distinguish between the two through your symptoms and the size and location of the bump.   

Treatment for a Stye or Chalazia

Although the two are different conditions that develop for different reasons, some of the treatments are the same, in particular, the home care aspect of the treatment process. For instance, our ophthalmologist may recommend you refrain from wearing makeup with either condition, but especially if you have a stye, since the makeup could irritate the infection. Not to mention, you’ll contaminate your makeup with the bacteria.

The eye doctor may recommend refraining from wearing makeup if you have chalazia, so you avoid irritating it when you apply the makeup. To relieve the soreness or reduce swelling, our ophthalmologist might recommend a warm compress for either condition. It’s usually best not to wear contacts when you have a lump on your eye. Never or squeeze or pop the bump. You could spread the infection or cause the bump to heal improperly. 

Both conditions tend to go away within a few days with treatment. A stye, in most cases, might require the use of topical antibiotic prescribed by our Burlingame CA ophthalmologist. If you have chalazia and it becomes very swollen, our ophthalmologist may give you a cortisone injection to decrease the swelling. If the stye or chalazia doesn’t heal on its own or through other treatments, we may need to drain the area. We can usually perform the procedure in our office using a local anesthetic. If you notice your stye or chalazia keeps appearing, even after surgery, we may need to biopsy it to check for a more serious problem. 

Meet Our Stye Treatment Ophthalmologist in Burlingame

If you develop a lump or bump on your eye, contact our Burlingame CA ophthalmologist at Dr. Cooper Pediatric Ophthalmology & Family Eye Care by contacting us at 650-259-0300 to schedule an appointment.