Most styes heal on their own within one to two weeks, but warm compresses can speed that up by several days and relieve pain in the meantime. A stye is a small, painful red bump near the edge of your eyelid, caused by a bacterial infection in an eyelash follicle or one of the tiny oil glands in your eyelid. The good news: effective treatment is simple and almost entirely something you can do at home.
Warm Compresses Are the Most Effective Home Treatment
The single best thing you can do for a stye is apply a warm compress. Soak a clean washcloth in water as warm as you can comfortably handle, wring it out, and hold it gently against your closed eyelid for two to five minutes at a time. You can repeat this up to 20 times a day, though most people find four to six sessions practical. The heat softens the blocked oil and helps the stye drain naturally.
Re-wet the cloth when it cools, since a lukewarm compress won’t do much. Some people prefer a microwaveable eye mask or a warm, damp tea bag, both of which hold heat longer than a washcloth. Use a fresh cloth each time to avoid reintroducing bacteria.
What Not to Do
Don’t squeeze or pop a stye. It might look like a pimple, especially once a small yellowish head develops at the base of an eyelash after a day or two, but squeezing can push the infection deeper into the eyelid or spread bacteria to the surrounding tissue. Let it drain on its own.
Avoid wearing contact lenses while you have an active stye, and skip eye makeup until it clears. Both can introduce more bacteria and slow healing. If you were using mascara or eyeliner around the time the stye appeared, replace those products rather than going back to them.
Do Over-the-Counter Products Help?
Stye ointments sold in drugstores are lubricants, not antibiotics. The typical product contains mineral oil and white petrolatum, which temporarily relieve burning and prevent further irritation. They can make your eye feel more comfortable, but they don’t treat the underlying infection. Warm compresses remain more effective for actually resolving the stye.
Over-the-counter pain relievers like ibuprofen or acetaminophen can help manage the soreness, which tends to peak during the first couple of days.
Stye vs. Chalazion
A stye and a chalazion can look similar, but they behave differently. A stye is painful from the start, appears near the edge of the eyelid, and usually involves a visible red, sore lump. A chalazion tends to develop farther back on the eyelid, often starts painless, and grows more slowly. It’s caused by a blocked oil gland rather than an active infection.
Chalazia sometimes develop from styes that don’t fully resolve. If your bump loses its tenderness but stays as a firm, painless lump for several weeks, it has likely become a chalazion, which may need different treatment.
External vs. Internal Styes
External styes are far more common. They form at the base of an eyelash where the follicle or a nearby oil gland gets infected. You’ll typically see a small yellowish pustule develop at the lash line within a day or two, surrounded by redness and swelling.
Internal styes develop deeper inside the eyelid, in the oil-producing glands that line the inner surface. You may not see an obvious bump on the outside. Instead, the swelling and yellow spot appear on the inner eyelid when it’s flipped up. Internal styes tend to be more uncomfortable and can take slightly longer to resolve, but warm compresses work for both types.
When a Stye Needs Medical Attention
Most styes don’t need a doctor. But there are two situations where you should get one looked at. First, if the stye hasn’t started improving after 48 hours of consistent warm compresses, it may need professional drainage or a prescription. Second, if redness and swelling spread beyond the bump to involve your entire eyelid, your cheek, or other parts of your face, that can signal a more serious skin infection called preseptal cellulitis, which requires oral antibiotics.
People who get styes repeatedly may be prescribed a course of antibiotics to address chronic inflammation in the oil glands along the eyelid margin.
Preventing Styes From Coming Back
Styes tend to recur in some people, but basic hygiene habits make a real difference. Wash your hands before touching your face or eyes. Remove all eye and face makeup before bed, since leftover product can clog the oil glands along your lash line overnight. Replace mascara every two to three months, even if the tube isn’t empty, because bacteria accumulate in the damp environment inside.
If you wear contact lenses, clean them thoroughly with proper disinfecting solution each time, and always wash your hands before putting them in or taking them out. Avoid rubbing your eyes, which transfers bacteria from your fingers directly to the vulnerable glands along your eyelid edge.
Typical Recovery Timeline
Without any treatment, a stye usually resolves on its own in one to two weeks. With consistent warm compresses several times a day, most people see improvement a few days sooner. Pain and swelling typically peak in the first two days, then gradually subside as the stye drains. Once it opens and releases the trapped material, healing speeds up noticeably. A small amount of crusting along the lash line during drainage is normal.