Do You Have a Stye or a Chalazion?

Hey guys,

If you’ve had a stye in your eye for a long time (more than a few weeks) it could actually be a chalazion that you’re suffering from.

Styes and chalazia are very similar in appearance, so I thought it would be useful to discuss the differences between these two eye diseases so that you can ascertain which one you have.

Chalazia Last Longer

As I touched upon earlier, chalazia tend to remain on your eyelid for a much longer period of time than styes.

Most styes will heal within one week and very rarely last for more than a month, whereas a chalazion can last for many months and sometimes even years.

Chalazia Don’t Hurt

Whereas a stye can be quite painful, a chalazion doesn’t usually cause very much pain at all. That’s not to say that you won’t be able to feel it – having a lump on your eyelid, which is pressing down on your eyeball can be most uncomfortable – but they do not cause any sharp pains or soreness.

Chalazia Are Often Bigger and Harder

Although every case is different, on the whole chalazia tend to be larger in diameter and harder than styes.

They also tend to develop somewhere in the middle of the eyelid, whereas styes tend to be a lot closer to the eyelashes or water-line.

Chalazia Vs Styes Pictures

Chalazion on the upper eyelid

Chalazion on lower eyelid (after surgical incision)

External Stye on Upper Eyelid

Internal Stye on Lower Eyelid

As you can see from these images, the chalazia are both:

Larger
Further from the eyeline

than the styes.

Hopefully, the advice in this article should help you to diagnose whether you have a stye or chalazion, however if you’ve had a cyst on your eyelid for more than a few weeks I highly recommend that you get it checked out by your doctor.

Danny

Tags: chalazion

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