A stye is a red, painful bump on your eyelid caused by a blocked and infected oil gland, and the good news is that most styes heal on their own within about a week. The single most effective thing you can do is apply warm compresses consistently. Beyond that, a few simple habits will speed healing and help you avoid making things worse.
Start With Warm Compresses
Warm compresses are the cornerstone of stye treatment. Soak a clean washcloth in warm water, wring it out, and hold it gently against your closed eyelid for five minutes. Repeat this several times a day. The warmth helps soften the blocked oil inside the gland, encouraging it to drain naturally.
Most styes come to a head within about three days, meaning you’ll see a small collection of clear or yellowish fluid at the surface. Once it opens and drains, healing typically wraps up within a week total. The key is consistency: doing this once or twice won’t accomplish much. Aim for at least three to four times daily, and rewet the cloth when it cools down so you maintain steady warmth throughout the five minutes.
What Not to Do
Never squeeze or pop a stye. The American Academy of Ophthalmology is clear on this: popping a stye can release bacteria and spread the infection to other parts of the eye. It’s tempting, especially once the bump looks ready to burst, but let it drain on its own or with the help of warm compresses.
Avoid wearing eye makeup while you have a stye. Mascara, eyeliner, and eyeshadow can introduce more bacteria to the area and contaminate your products. If you were using any eye makeup around the time the stye developed, throw those products out rather than risking reinfection later. Contact lenses should also come out while the stye is actively infected. Once the infection clears, you can resume wearing them.
Over-the-Counter Options
You’ll find stye ointments at most pharmacies, but they’re simpler than you might expect. The most common OTC stye ointments are lubricants, with white petrolatum as the active ingredient. They don’t fight the infection directly. Instead, they keep the eye from drying out and reduce irritation while your body does the work of clearing the blockage. These can offer comfort, especially if the stye makes blinking feel scratchy, but warm compresses remain more important.
External vs. Internal Styes
Not all styes look or feel the same. An external stye forms along the lash line, where smaller oil glands sit. You can usually see a visible bump right at the base of an eyelash. These are the most common type, and they tend to come to a head and drain outward.
An internal stye develops deeper in the eyelid, inside larger oil glands embedded in the lid tissue. You might feel a painful lump without seeing much on the surface, or the bump may point inward toward the inner lining of the eyelid. Internal styes can take longer to resolve because they don’t drain as easily. The treatment approach is the same (warm compresses, good hygiene, no squeezing), but internal styes are more likely to turn into a chalazion, a firm, painless lump that lingers after the initial infection fades.
When a Stye Needs Medical Attention
If your stye hasn’t started shrinking within one to two weeks of consistent warm compresses, it’s time to see an eye doctor. At that point, it may have transitioned into a chalazion, which sometimes requires a minor in-office procedure to drain or a small injection to reduce the swelling.
More urgently, watch for signs that the infection is spreading beyond the stye itself. Redness and swelling that expands across the eyelid or around the eye socket, skin that feels warm and tender well beyond the bump, fever, eye pain, vision changes, or a bulging appearance to the eye are all red flags. These can signal periorbital cellulitis, an infection of the skin and tissue around the eye that requires prompt treatment with antibiotics. This progression is uncommon, but it’s the reason a stye that keeps getting worse instead of better deserves a same-day medical visit.
Preventing Styes From Coming Back
Styes tend to recur in people with chronic eyelid inflammation, a condition called blepharitis. Keeping your eyelids clean is the most reliable prevention strategy. A dedicated eyelid cleanser, available over the counter, outperforms the old recommendation of diluted baby shampoo. In a clinical trial comparing the two, both reduced some symptoms of eyelid inflammation, but only the dedicated cleanser improved the oil layer of the tear film and reduced markers of surface inflammation. Baby shampoo actually worsened the function of mucus-producing cells in the eye. If your doctor has previously suggested baby shampoo for lid scrubs, switching to a product designed for eyelids is worth considering.
A simple daily routine helps: after your shower or before bed, gently clean along both upper and lower lash lines with the cleanser and a clean cotton pad. Wash your hands before touching your eyes. Replace eye makeup every few months, and never share mascara or eyeliner. If you wear contacts, follow your replacement schedule and clean your lenses properly. These small habits reduce the bacterial load on your eyelids and keep the oil glands flowing freely, making future styes far less likely.