EYES & STYES, for all the Ladies and Guys!

As many of us know, we are in the midst of the spring allergy season. Some of us are sensitive to tree pollen, some grass pollen, others to both. But one thing that all doctors can agree on is that we see a B I G increase in eyelid swelling, eyelid infections, and most of all… WE SEE A BUNCH OF STYES in our offices. 

A stye is a red, sore lump near the edge of the eyelid caused by an infected eyelash follicle. A chalazion is sometimes confused with a stye, which also appears as a lump on the eyelid. Chalazia tend to develop farther from the edge of the eyelid than styes.  In some situations it may be difficult to distinguish between a chalazion and stye.

BUT WHY? 

Can somebody anybody tell me why?

Hey, can somebody anybody tell me why we STYE, we STYE?

I don’t wanna a STYE

(Thank You Bone Thugs-N-Harmony for the inspiration)

So great news, well maybe, we have research, fresh off the press, that demonstrated the uptick in eye surface inflammation, caused by allergies, leads to the dysfunction of the meibomian aka oil glands. This means that allergies are actually causing the oil glands to get clogged and not function optimally.

Just a quick refresh, meibomian or oil glands are tube-like structures lining the inside of our eyelids. These glands pump oil that, “SHOULD”, be released every time we blink. The reason I lace the word, “should” in quotations is because these oil glands are not always open and un-obstructed, so when these glands are not releasing oil at each blink our Dry Eye symptoms slowly start to increase and become a more common occurrence.

So now what?

If you know you are an eye allergy sufferer, make sure you are making timely visits to your Dry Eye Specialist every spring and fall to have an Eyelid Cleaning and expression performed to reduce the chance of getting more STYES.