Everything about Chalazion

 

A chalazion or a chalazia is look like a red bump on your eyelid. It has other names which include eyelid cyst or a meibomian cyst. When an oil gland called a meibomian becomes blocked, it forms slowly in your eyes.

In the starting developing stage of chalazion may be painful but after sometime it usually doesn’t hurt. It usually forms on the upper eyelids but occasionally it occurs on lower eyelids also.

Typically, chalazia usually develops in adults between the ages of 30 and 50. But they are not common in children even though they can also happen sometimes.

Chalazion Vs stye

Styes are formed by bacterial infections which causes the gland to swell. Normally, a chalazion is not a stye but it can form based on a stye. Generally, chalazion is not painful and it appears farther back on the eyelids.

Causes of chalazion 

Usually, chalazia will develop by something that blocks a small oil gland in the eyelids. These small oil glands help to keep your eyes moisture. That blocked gland will begin to retain oils and swells. Eventually, the liquids in your eyes will drain and also you have a tiny hard bump on your eyelid.

Some additional causes of chalazia are:

• Rosacea which gives signs of redness and acne in a skin (a skin condition that causes redness and acne).

• Chronic blepharitis, eyelid inflammations like redness, swelling and irritation.

• red, dry, flaky and itchy skin called Seborrheic dermatitis.

• Respiratory problems like Tuberculosis (TB).

• Frequent Viral infections.

Symptoms of a chalazion

If you have diagnosed with chalazion, you will see the following symptoms:

• Usually on the upper eyelid, develop a tiny hard painless bump in your eyelid.

• Causing your eyes with mild irritation which affects your eyes to water

• larger chalazia that pushes on the eyeball with blurred vision.

Chalazion Risk Factors

Chalazia will affect mostly adults than children. The risk factors increases if you have:

• Eyelid inflammation called as blepharitis

• seborrheic dermatitis or acne rosacea skin problems

• Other health problems such as diabetes

• Past chalazion history

Diagnosis

When you have a chalazion, you will usually visit an eye specialist. You may also see an optometrist or an ophthalmologist. Their eye specialists team will examine the chalazion and offer a treatment plan.

If you see the eye expert, you should expect:

Health history: Talk with your healthcare provider about your complete health history. This information will help your healthcare team to find underlying issues that can contribute to the chalazion formation.

External eye exam: Your healthcare team of eye specialists will examine your eye, eyelid, eyelashes and skin texture.

Thorough eyelid exam: Eye specialists use a bright light and use magnifying glass to look at the base of your eyelashes. Your healthcare team also checks the oil glands’ openings.

Treatment

You can treat a chalazion with home treatment. Most chalazion will pass out from a month or less

In most of the cases chalazion can be treatable at home.Usually, chalazion must go away in a month or less than a month.

The first step is to never push on a chalazion or not try to pop it. You can injure your eye by doing these. Instead of this, use home treatment:

Warm compresses:  Use a clean washcloth by wetting it with warm water. Place that warm cloth on the affected eye for 15 minutes. Do this step at least 3 times a day to help the oil gland open up.

Massage: Massage the eyelid gently for a few times a day. Using light to medium pressure, you can massage for a few minutes each day. This massage will help to open up the blocked oil glands.

Good hygiene:  Don't put any eye makeup if you have a chalazion. Keep the eye area clean after the chalazion draining step. Try to follow good eye health practices and also avoid touching your eyes.

If the chalazion is not treated with home treatment, you will seek help from an eye specialist. The chalazion might need to have the fluid drained through a small incision. Healthcare providers suggest some steroids to reduce swelling and inflammation.

Prevention

You can avoid getting a chalazion by following good hygiene. Some essential hygiene practices to follow:

Hand-washing: Wash your hands properly and often. You must make sure to wash your hands whenever before touching your eyes.

Contact lens care:  If you remove contact lenses, then make sure your hands are clean. Ensure that your contacts clean with disinfectant and lens cleaning solution.

Always throw the used temporary contact lenses away on schedule.

Face-washing: 

Before going to bed, Wash your face daily to remove dirt and makeup.Your healthcare provider will suggest you to clean your eyelids with a separate scrub or a mild baby shampoo, particularly if you are prone to blepharitis.

Makeup hygiene: 

Make sure that you change your mascara and eyeshadow every two to three months. Then throw away all of your very old or expired makeup products. And most importantly, Try to never share or use another person’s makeup products.

Signs to see an eye doctor

If you have a chalazion and it is not treated with home treatment then see an eye specialist. They examine your eye thoroughly and offer additional treatment plans.You can also see your eye specialists if you have a recurring chalazia (tiny hard bumps that come back)

Outlook

Trying to keep your eye healthy is more important for your vision and quality of life. Sometimes, things like styes and chalazia will happen. But these troublesome eye problems can be very treatable a t home. Talk to your healthcare team about the things that you can do to avoid these troublesome tiny eye problems.