Most styes heal on their own within one to two weeks, but consistent warm compresses can speed things up and relieve pain in the meantime. A stye is a small, painful red bump on the eyelid caused by a bacterial infection in an oil gland or hair follicle at the base of your eyelashes. The fix is straightforward: keep the area warm, keep it clean, and don’t touch it.
Warm Compresses Are the Primary Treatment
The single most effective thing you can do for a stye is apply a warm compress. Heat softens the blocked material inside the gland and helps it drain naturally. The target temperature is about 104°F (40°C), which is roughly the temperature of a comfortably hot washcloth, not scalding. Soak a clean cloth in hot water, wring it out, and hold it against your closed eyelid for 10 to 15 minutes at a time, three to five times a day. Re-soak the cloth as it cools to maintain consistent warmth.
A microwavable eye mask works well if you want something that holds heat longer. Clinical evidence shows that even 10 minutes once daily improves gland function, but more frequent sessions (the three-to-five-times-daily range recommended by the American Academy of Ophthalmology) will resolve a stye faster. The goal is to coax the blocked gland open so it can drain on its own.
Keep Your Eyelid Clean
Gentle eyelid cleaning prevents the infection from worsening and reduces the chance of a second stye forming nearby. Dilute a small amount of baby shampoo or a fragrance-free, dye-free soap in warm water, then wipe your eyelid gently with a clean cotton swab or washcloth. Don’t scrub or rub the area.
While you have a stye, skip eye makeup entirely. Bacteria can transfer to mascara wands, eyeliner pencils, and eyeshadow. Once the stye heals, throw away any eye makeup you used before or during the infection and clean your brushes thoroughly. If you wear contact lenses, switch to glasses until the stye is completely gone, then start with a fresh pair of contacts.
What Not to Do
Do not squeeze, pop, or try to lance a stye yourself. It might look like a pimple, but squeezing can push the infection deeper into the eyelid or spread bacteria to the surrounding tissue. Let it drain on its own with the help of warm compresses. If it forms a visible pus spot, the compresses will usually bring it to a head and allow it to rupture gently without any pressure from you.
Stye vs. Chalazion
Not every bump on your eyelid is a stye. A chalazion looks similar but behaves differently, and knowing which one you have changes what to expect.
A stye sits right at the edge of your eyelid, near the lash line. It’s painful, red, and often has a small pus spot at the center. You may notice tearing, light sensitivity, crustiness along the lashes, or a scratchy feeling like something is stuck in your eye. A chalazion forms farther back on the eyelid, away from the lash line. It’s usually painless and grows more slowly. Large chalazia can press on the eyeball enough to blur your vision.
Warm compresses help both conditions. But a chalazion also benefits from gentle massage: after applying warmth, use a clean finger to lightly massage around the bump to help the clogged gland clear. Chalazia that don’t resolve after a month or two sometimes need a steroid injection or minor in-office drainage.
When a Stye Needs Medical Attention
Most styes resolve with home care alone, but some need professional treatment. If pain and swelling haven’t started improving after 48 hours of consistent warm compresses, or if they’re getting worse after two to three days, it’s time to see an eye doctor. The same goes for styes that keep coming back.
A stye that doesn’t heal with compresses or medication after several weeks may need to be drained. This is a quick in-office procedure done under local anesthesia. Your doctor makes a small incision, drains the contents, and you go home the same day. It’s typically recommended only when the bump is blocking your vision or causing persistent discomfort.
In rare cases, a stye can progress to a more serious skin infection called cellulitis, where redness and swelling spread beyond the bump across the eyelid. Seek urgent care if you develop a fever along with eyelid swelling, if the eye itself starts bulging forward, if you have pain when moving your eye, double vision, or any loss of vision. These symptoms suggest the infection has moved deeper into the tissue around the eye and needs immediate treatment, typically oral antibiotics.
Do Antibiotics Help?
For a typical stye, antibiotics aren’t necessary. Warm compresses alone resolve most cases. If your doctor determines there’s a secondary bacterial infection spreading beyond the original bump, they may prescribe a topical antibiotic ointment to apply along the eyelid margin a few times daily. Treatment usually lasts 7 to 10 days. Oral antibiotics are reserved for more serious situations where the infection has spread to the surrounding skin or if you have an underlying condition like rosacea that makes styes more persistent.
Preventing Styes From Coming Back
Recurrent styes usually come down to eyelid hygiene. The oil glands along your lash line can get clogged by dead skin, makeup residue, or microscopic mites called Demodex that live on most people’s eyelashes in small numbers. A daily eyelid-cleaning routine goes a long way. Each night, gently wipe your lash line with diluted baby shampoo or a commercial lid scrub as part of your face-washing routine.
Tea tree oil lid scrubs have shown promise for people whose eyelid problems are linked to Demodex overgrowth. In a clinical trial at Chung-Ang University Hospital, patients who used tea tree oil scrubs at least five times per week saw significant reductions in mite counts and eyelid discomfort, with about 24% achieving complete mite eradication. The control group, which used scrubs without tea tree oil, saw almost no change. If you try this approach, use a product specifically formulated for eyelid use at a safe dilution (around 10% for home use), since full-strength tea tree oil can irritate the eyes.
Beyond cleaning, a few basic habits reduce your risk: wash your hands before touching your face or eyes, replace eye makeup every few months, never share mascara or eyeliner, and remove all makeup before bed. If you’re prone to styes, a brief daily warm compress (even five minutes) can help keep your oil glands flowing freely and prevent blockages from forming in the first place.