Chalazion and eyelid tumors

Florida Pediatric Ophthalmology & Strabismus

Stye and Chalazion Treatment

A stye is an infection of the eyelash follicle. It is a red bump that is painful to the touch. It generally lasts a week and does improve faster with topical antibiotic use. A chalazion is a blockage of the oil gland in the eyelid. All of us have about 30 oil glands in each eyelid that produces an oil that helps lubricate our tears. If the oil gland gets blocked, the oil leaks out into the eyelid, and causes an inflammatory reaction. Unlike styes, a chalazion can last from months to years. Antibiotics don’t help as an infection is usually not present. Chalazion can be treated with warm compresses, steroid medications for their strong anti-inflammatory effect, or surgery.

Some small non-cancerous tumors are common in children. One is called a dermoid cyst. It is a small pocket of skin cells that gets lodged between two bones during development. The only treatment for this is surgical excision. Other common tumors include hemangiomas. This is an abnormal group of blood vessels at or under the skin. If a hemangioma is around the eye, it can cause amblyopia by forcing the eyelid to close or by causing a large difference in the need for eyeglasses between the two eyes. Hemangiomas are often treated with an oral medication called Propranolol. In rare cases, surgery is also indicated. Hemangiomas do tend to spontaneously improve with growth. 75% of hemangiomas are gone by the time a child is 4 years of age.

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