Most styes clear up on their own within one to two weeks, but a warm compress is the single most effective thing you can do to speed that process along. A stye is a small abscess that forms at the base of an eyelash when an oil gland gets infected, almost always by staph bacteria that naturally live on your skin. The good news: you can treat the vast majority of styes at home without medication.
Warm Compresses Are the First-Line Treatment
Soak a clean washcloth in warm water, wring it out, and hold it gently against your closed eyelid for five minutes. Repeat this several times a day. The heat increases blood flow to the area and softens the blocked oil inside the gland, helping the stye drain on its own. After a few days of consistent compresses, the bump will typically swell slightly, then pop and release pus. This is normal and a sign it’s healing.
Reheat or re-wet the washcloth as it cools so the warmth stays consistent through the full five minutes. Use a fresh washcloth each time to avoid reintroducing bacteria. Some people wonder about using a warm tea bag instead, but the American Academy of Ophthalmology says there’s no evidence a tea bag works any better than a plain warm washcloth.
What Not to Do
Don’t squeeze or pop a stye yourself. It might be tempting, especially once the bump develops a visible white or yellow head, but squeezing can push the infection deeper into the eyelid or spread bacteria to surrounding tissue. Let it drain naturally with the help of compresses.
Switch to glasses while the stye is active. Contact lenses can irritate the area and trap bacteria against the eye. If a stye popped while you were wearing disposable lenses, toss that pair and start fresh once the stye has fully healed. Skip eye makeup too, since mascara and eyeliner applicators can harbor bacteria and reintroduce infection to the same spot.
When a Stye Needs Medical Treatment
If the pain and swelling haven’t started improving after 48 hours of home care, it’s time to see an eye doctor. At that point, the infection may need more than warm compresses alone. Your doctor might prescribe antibiotic eye drops or ointment to apply directly to the eyelid. If the surrounding skin has become infected, oral antibiotics could be necessary.
For styes that are large, stubborn, or located on the inner eyelid, a doctor can drain it with a small incision under local anesthesia. The procedure is quick, you won’t feel pain during it, and it provides almost immediate pressure relief. Internal styes (ones that point inward toward the eyeball rather than outward) are more likely to need this kind of intervention because they don’t drain as easily on their own.
How Long Recovery Takes
Without any treatment, a stye typically lasts one to two weeks. With consistent warm compresses, many styes drain within a few days and the remaining swelling fades over the following week. A small, painless bump can sometimes linger after the infection clears. This is called a chalazion, a blocked gland without active infection, and it can take a month or longer to fully disappear. Warm compresses help with those too.
Warning Signs of Something More Serious
A straightforward stye stays localized to one small area of the eyelid. Rarely, the infection can spread beyond the stye into the tissue around the eye. Seek immediate care if you notice any of these: swelling that spreads across the entire eyelid or to the other eye, changes in your vision (blurriness or double vision), difficulty moving your eye in any direction, fever, or a feeling of being generally unwell. These symptoms can signal a deeper infection called orbital cellulitis, which requires urgent treatment.
Preventing Styes From Coming Back
Some people get styes once and never again. Others deal with them repeatedly, often because of a chronic condition called blepharitis, where the eyelid margins stay mildly inflamed and oil glands clog more easily. If you’re prone to recurrent styes, daily eyelid hygiene is the most effective prevention strategy.
Each morning, place a warm compress over your closed eyes for a minute or two to loosen any overnight buildup in the oil glands. Then gently wash along your lash line with a clean washcloth and warm water, or with a diluted baby shampoo solution. This removes the mix of dead skin, oil, and bacteria that accumulates at the base of your lashes. It takes less than two minutes and makes a significant difference for people who get styes more than once or twice a year.
Other practical habits that reduce your risk: wash your hands before touching your face or eyes, replace eye makeup (especially mascara) every three months, never share eye makeup with others, and always remove makeup before bed. If you wear contact lenses, follow your replacement schedule strictly and clean your lens case regularly.