A 39-year-old male asked:
Should there still be discharge after ten days? two parts to my inquiry, may or may not be related: 10 days ago i woke up with swelling around the upper eyelid (near my nose) of my right eye. i went to the doctor and was told i had a stye, and was prescr
1 doctor answer • 2 doctors weighed in
Dr. Vytautas Pakalnisanswered
Ophthalmology 47 years experience
I : I do not know your age, whether you have had any other eye problems, have dry eye, or if you wear contact lenses. A picture is often worth a 1000 words, but i will assume that the initial diagnosis is correct. Usually, a stye, if caught and treated early, will respond to warm (very warm, or as hot as tolerated) applied directly to the affected area for at least 15-20 minutes 3-4 times a day. Antibiotics are often given as an umbrella--to cover for and decrease the bacterial count--and treat any lid problems (such as blepharitis, or dandruf of the eyelids) that may be contributing to the problem. In most cases, the stye will come to a "point" and drain a little pus-like material in a few days. That is when it is most important to take an antibiotic topical drop to decrease the bacteria that are released. However, steroid drops must be taken with great care, and monitored by an eye specialist closely because they can give a "false sense of improvement" and possibly allow a virus to activate in the cornea causing inflammation of the clear part of your (i.e. "viral keratitis") that can result in a permanent scar--or even perforation and severe infection of the inside of the eyeball itself! a stye is usually not active at 10 days! so there may be something else going on! crusting should be gone by now unless you have an associated lid disease, or other problem (for example, dry eye), and i would try to get it checked out and stop using the steroid eye drops unless another eye doctor that has examined you personally has said it was ok. I hope this helps. Good luck!
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Last updated Oct 3, 2016
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