Is it Just a Stye or Something More?

Is it a stye or something more? That is the question I've been asking myself for over a month. Almost two months ago, a large, painful bump developed under my eye lid. I just assumed it was a stye since it's the most common culprit of painful eye lid bumps. But, after a few weeks the bump kept getting larger and more painful by the day. As most of you know, a stye will typically be small and develop at the base of the eyelashes and go away within three or four days. The growing bump in my eyelid wasn't a simple stye; it was a chalazion, otherwise known as Blepharitis.

What's a Chalazion?

A chalazion is a small sebaceous cyst that develops under the eyelid when oil glands in the eye are obstructed. When I found this out, I absolutely freaked. I thought that I had a cancerous cyst in my eyes and feared that my days were numbered. After a few more hours of research, I uncovered that a chalazion will typically go away in less than three months and shouldn't be painful as long as you don't pick at it. Well, there was the route of my pain. Like a flaming idiot, I tried to "pop" that little chalazion of mine like a pimple.

The Emergency Room

After several more weeks of "waiting it out," the chalazion kept growing in size and started obstructing my vision. And, as if that weren't bad enough, a mosquito bit me directly on the part on my eyelid where the chalazion was growing. After three days of looking like I'd been beat up my Mike Tyson, I gave in and went to the emergency room.

I am an extremely short tempered and impatient person. I'm a lethal combination of Irish and Puerto Rican, two of the shortest tempered nationalities to date. And to put the cherry on top of that bitch-fest, I grew up on the streets of New York. My big-fat-eye and I signed into the emergency room wait sheet at exactly 11:10 pm. The emergency room was practically empty, yet it took the doctor all of three hours to get to me. I was f-u-m-i-n-g! But, quickly lost my attitude when the doctor and told me that all I needed was a little ointment and the chalazion should be gone in a week. The lovely nurse also broke the news that I must throw out all of my eye makeup because it was the reason for my infection.

Pay a Visit to your Doctor

So... here I sit looking not-so-pretty, makeup less and oozing ointment-filled goop my one eye. My message to you is to get your "insignificant stye" checked out as soon as possible. If it's there for more than a week, it probably isn't a stye, it's a chalazion. Learn from my experience and get your little ass into the doctor now, because not all chalazions can be fixed with a little ointment; some that are too far gone will require surgical removal.