Eye Discomfort and Redness with Tears
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Have you ever had discomfort or pain with tears in the eyelid that made your eyes look swollen and red? It could have been a stye, chalazion, or another eye disease. This article introduces the stye and its treatment that you can adopt at home.
What is stye?
Stye (Stye/Hordeolum), known as ‘needle eye’ in TCM, is an acute inflammation of the sebaceous glands or the meibomian gland with the clinical symptoms of partial swelling and redness in the inner part of the eyelid, sometimes in the outer side of the eyelid, and mostly affects young people. However, stye can attack other age groups and, in the worst case, leave a scar on the eyelid. Usually, the stye can form a hardening or pus in the eyelid that makes you feel uncomfortable. However, if you use your hands to squeeze the pus yourself, it tends to cause some complications. Most cases can be treated by eye drops or ointment, but severe ones should see a doctor and accept microsurgery.
1. Types of stye
Styes can be divided into two types due to occurrence sites: external styes and internal stye.
External stye
You can see and touch the swollen and red lump in the form of wheat on the edge outside the eyelid, accompanied by pain and watery eyes. The lump (pus) will soften in five days, then the pus may drain (sometimes by artificial puncture) and the swollen lump ease in seven days.
Internal stye
The inflammation occurs in the inner eyelid and always affects a small area, but the pain is more severe than the external stye. On the conjunctiva of the inside of the eyelid is a red lump filled with yellow pus. Once the pus breaks spontaneously, the symptoms can get relief.
2. Main symptoms
• The skin of the eyelid turns red, swollen, hot and painful with tears.
• The conjunctiva, which is close to the eyeball has mild edema.
• The lump accumulates yellow pus, mainly on the skin of the outer eyelash root and conjunctiva of the inner eyelid gland.
• Most of the symptoms can disappear once the pus is broken.
• In addition to the above symptoms, some patients may feel pain when they press the swollen lymph nodes in front of the ears or below the jaw, accompanied by chills and fever.
Cause of stye
1. A stye is an acute inflammation of two glands (oil gland and meibomian gland) in the eyelid. Bacteria, especially staphylococcus, are responsible for most infections.
2. For children, there is insufficient immunity to defeat the bacterium and resist the infection. If they do not follow good sanitary habits, such as washing their hands regularly, rubbing the eyes with dirty hands can infect the glands of the eye with the bacterium and trigger a stye.
3. There are several risk factors for stye: myopia (shortsightedness) or hyperopia (longsightedness), diabetes, digestive problems, weak constitution and poor hygiene.
4. In TCM, the stye is referred to as a ‘needle eye’ as it can be punctured with a needle. Unclean skin and external pathogens like wind and heat are the most common triggers of a stye. In addition, gastric dysfunction and insufficient Qi and blood lead to the recurrent outbreak of stye.
Treatment of stye
Apart from severe cases that require medically prescribed medications, most patients can be cured through general therapy, TCM therapy, and dietary therapy.
1. General therapy
There are two methods that are recommended to you if you suddenly get a stye.
• Wipe the root of the eyelash with a cotton ball dipped in alcohol when the stye begins to show symptoms of a red, swollen and sore eyelid. Try to close your eyes tightly, then use the alcohol-drenched cotton ball and gently wipe the root of the eyelashes until your eyes feel hot, but keep your eyes closed to prevent alcohol from entering your eyes. When the hot feeling disappears, you can open your eyes as normal. If you repeat this two to three times a day, you can feel how the swelling on the eyelid disappears.
• Place a warm washcloth over the eyes two to three times daily for 5 to 10 minutes. This method can make the stye to drain by itself.
2. Medical therapy
• Antibiotics. If your symptoms are severe, your doctor may prescribe appropriate medications, such as antibiotic eye drops or an antibiotic cream that is applied to your eyelid. However, if the infection spreads to a larger area, taking some antibiotics in the form of tablets is recommended by your doctor.
• Surgery to relieve pressure. When the pus become mature, it can be uncomfortable to move the eyeball. No matter how painful the eye feels, avoid touching it or pressing the pus with your hands, since this can lead to other infections and aggravate the symptoms. The right method is to be treated by a doctor. He may make a small incision to drain the pus, which helps to heal rapidly and relieve the pain and swelling.
• Infusion. Since a stye is an inflammation, your doctor may inject some anti-inflammatory agents to kill the bacteria that induce the stye.
3. TCM therapy
According to TCM, the treatment of stye should be based mainly on the removal of heat in the body and detoxification. In China, many herbs play a role in eliminating toxic substances from the body and releasing swelling pain. The following part will introduce three formulas to sufferers who have a stye. And you can find the herbs of these formulas in most Western countries
1) Honeysuckle juice
Material: Honeysuckle
Directions:
• First, soak the honeysuckle in the water.
• Then bring it to the boil.
• Filter the juice.
• Drink 15ml to 20ml of the juice, three times a day.
2) Taraxacum meal or juice
Material: Fresh Taraxacum
Directions:
• Put the taraxacum into boiling water for 1 minute.
• Slice the Taraxacum and cook with other food.
Or
• Wash the Taraxacum.
• Squeeze out the liquid and drink the juice.
3) Fried burdock leaves
Material: Fresh burdock leaves
Directions:
• Wash and slice the burdock leaves.
• Fry the leaves with strong heat
• Add some seasoning
• Eat the fried burdock leaves as a meal
4. Dietary therapy
Suitable and unsuitable foods for styes
• In Chinese medicine theory, redness, soreness, heat, and pain in the eyes, that are the symptoms of a stye, are the causes of excessive fire and toxin in the body. Therefore, patients should choose vegetables or fruits like watermelons and cucumbers that can remove the pathogenic heat from the blood. Drinking more water or soup helps urinate the harmful pathogen.
• In addition to the above-mentioned symptoms in the eyes, those affected may experience fever, aversion to cold and general discomfort, so they should eat healthy and digestible food like porridge, pasta, and soup. Spicy, oily, and greasy food can aggravate the condition, so it is better to avoid this food.
• If you suffer from stye frequently, you should consider the gastric insufficiency. The best foods that can nourish the stomach include carrots, beef, and grapes.
• The dietary therapy should be based on heat-cleansing and detoxification. In contrast, some unfavourable foods that can spread the inflammation should be avoided. These foods include chicken, carp, shrimp, mutton, and other spicy or fried foods.
Prevention of stye
1. The following Nursing measures are to be considered at the beginning of stye to prevent the aggravation of the symptoms.
• Use a damp and heated washcloth to put on the eye for 15 minutes, three times a day.
• Apply eye ointment or use eye drops.
• When the pus ripens and breaks at the same time, you can gently wipe it off with a sterile gauze. However, if the amount of pus is considerable, it is advisable to see a doctor and have it surgically removed.
2. Building a good lifestyle helps to stay away from a sty.
• Avoid wiping your eyes with a public washcloth which contains various invisible bacteria and viruses. Before cleaning the eyes, remember to wash your hands with soap or use a clean tissue.
• Apply warm compresses. Using a warm washcloth to put on the eyes in the morning and in the evening can speed up the blood circulation around the eyes.
• After sand or dust has been blown into your eyes, closing the eyes is a simple and hygienic method of relief instead of rubbing the eyes with unclean hands. Due to the simulation of sand or dust, the eyes will secrete tears uncontrollably, which helps to wash away the sand or dust. If this does not help, immediate treatment by the doctor is necessary.
• Use the eye drops under the guidance of a doctor, as the eye drops contain certain preservative that may cause irritation or allergies if used frequently.
• Pay attention to eye hygiene. It’s inappropriate to use the glasses, eye medicines or cosmetics of others to avoid infection.
• Stop smoking. Long-term smoking can increase the risk of other eye diseases like cataracts and glaucoma.
• Protect your eyes. When playing ball games, remember to wear goggles.
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