Foods That Boost Your Eye Health
Everyone focuses on healthy foods for their heart or stomach – but most people forget about their eyes. Learn more about healthy foods that boost your eye health and help you avoid vision problems later on.
5 Reasons Your Styes Keep Coming Back
A stye is a small lump around an eyelash that occurs when bacteria enter the oil gland or hair follicle. Bacterial infections in or around the eye are common and can develop for many reasons.
Most people eliminate styes through home care and warm compresses – but if they continue to come back, you may need professional care. At Eyedrop Optique, Dr. Robert Ancona and his team offer treatments for various eye infections.
He offers eye exams to determine the best route of treatment for a stye or other eye infection.
What are eye styes?
A stye is a painful red bump, like a pimple, that forms on an eyelid, typically at the base of an eyelash. They form when bacteria enter the hair follicle or an oil gland, leading to a small infection.
Styes can happen in one eye at a time or in both and cause a number of symptoms, which include:
- Eye discharge
- Excessive tearing
- Painful red lump
- Eyelid swelling
- Crusting on the eyelid
- Soreness or itching
- Light sensitivity
Styes can be internal or external. Internal styes form in oil glands on the inner eyelid and are very painful.
External styes are more common and can cause symptoms and a red lump near the lashes.
Why do your styes keep returning
Having a stye once is bad enough, but if it keeps returning, there could be a reason. Knowing what causes recurring styes is essential for eye health. The common reasons your styes keep returning include:
1. Styes that don’t fully drain
Some styles don’t fully heal, leaving behind thickened oil or bacteria. This makes that area prone to recurrent infections until the stye drains and heals completely.
2. Chronic eyelid problems
Issues like blepharitis or meibomian gland dysfunction block the glands and trap bacteria, increasing the risk of recurrent infections. They can also cause chronic inflammation, creating a favorable environment for bacteria.
3. Poor hygiene
Not washing your hands before touching your eyes or not cleaning your contacts can allow bacteria to colonize your eyelashes, leading to recurrent styes.
4. Bacterial colonization
Staphylococcus aureus commonly causes styes. When it stays near the eyelid margins, it can enter the glands and cause recurrent infections.
5. Using contaminated makeup
If Staphylococcus aureus gets into your makeup, you continually introduce it to your eyelids. This causes recurrent eyelid infections, such as styes, that don’t fully resolve.
Tips to prevent recurrent styes
To avoid another stye, follow these tips to keep bacteria out of your eyelids:
- Ensure your eyelids are clean before putting on makeup
- Remove eye makeup before going to bed
- Wash your hands before touching your eyelids
- Discard makeup after three months
- Apply makeup outside of the eyelash lines
- Keep contacts clean and disinfect regularly
If you can’t seem to eliminate a stye with home care and proper hygiene, we may need to prescribe antibiotics or eye drops to treat the infection. It’s also essential to control any medical issues that could be lowering your immunity to bacterial infections.
To learn more about preventing styes, call Eyedrop Optique to schedule an appointment with Dr. Ancona. You can also request a vision exam consultation on our website.
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