Sty Eye Treatment

The most common eye infection is a sty, perceived as a bump on the eye. It is basically an inflammation of the oil gland found on the edge of the eyelid, which is responsible for lubricating the eye. There is usually some swelling around the bump and the eye becomes red and is tender to touch.


Styes are caused by staphylococcal bacteria, which is found in the nasal are and gets transferred to the eyes by hand contact. Similar to acne, styes develop over a few days and usually do not require special treatment since they drain and heal by themselves. Other symptoms of a sty include an itching grittiness of the eye, tearing of your eye and sensitivity to light.


 

Styes usually do not require treatment so you should let them be and allow them heal and drain naturally. Never poke and squeeze the sty and attempt to drain it because that could lead to a more serious infection of the eye. You should also avoid using contact lenses and/or eye make-up if you have a sty. You could apply a hot compress on the affected eye three or four times a day for ten minutes in order to soothe the pain and abet the process. A good compress can be made by boiling a few acacia leaves in around 2 cups of water and placing them in a warm, damp cloth which is then placed over the eyes. Alternately you can place some warmed up guava leaves on a warm, damp cloth and press it to the affected eye to ease the swelling, irritation and redness in the eye. Similarly the tannic acid in a tea bag wet in warm water and placed on the eye helps to reduce the sty. You can boil 1 tsp of coriander seeds in some water and wash your eyes with this mixture 4-5 times a day to reduce the infection. Similarly you can prepare some triphala water by mixing 1 tsp triphala powder in a glass of water and letting it soak overnight. You can use it to wash your eyes after filtering it properly. Apart from these simple home remedies, you can also prepare a simple poultice with some grated potato and wrapping it in a piece of damp cloth while it is still warm and apply it over the sty to speed up the healing process. A similar poultice can be prepared using baked apple and mashing it before wrapping it in a piece of cloth.