Most bumps on eyelids are caused by blocked oil glands or minor infections and resolve on their own within a few weeks. Your eyelids contain dozens of tiny oil-producing glands that keep your eyes lubricated, and when one gets clogged or infected, a noticeable bump forms. Less commonly, eyelid bumps result from trapped skin cells, viral infections, cholesterol deposits, or growths that develop with age and sun exposure.
Styes: Infected and Painful
A stye is one of the most common eyelid bumps, and it’s usually the most uncomfortable. It forms when bacteria infect a hair follicle at the base of an eyelash or one of the small oil glands inside the lid. External styes sit right at the eyelid’s edge, often centered on a single lash. Internal styes develop deeper inside the lid where the oil glands are located.
The hallmark of a stye is pain. The bump is red, swollen, and tender to the touch, often resembling a small pimple. It may cause the entire eyelid to swell and can make your eye water. Most styes come to a head and drain on their own within a week or so. Applying a warm, moist compress for 5 to 10 minutes, 3 to 6 times a day, helps soften the blockage and speed drainage. Resist the urge to squeeze it, which can spread the infection deeper into the lid.
Chalazia: Painless but Persistent
A chalazion looks similar to a stye but behaves differently. It develops when one of the meibomian glands (the oil glands inside your eyelid) becomes blocked. The gland continues producing oil with nowhere for it to go, so it swells and eventually forms a firm, round lump filled with trapped fluid. The surrounding skin becomes irritated, but the bump itself is usually not painful.
Chalazia tend to form farther back on the eyelid than styes, away from the lash line. They grow slowly and can reach the size of a pea or larger. Many resolve within two weeks with warm compresses and gentle lid massage. When a chalazion doesn’t respond to this approach, grows large enough to press on the eye and blur vision, or keeps coming back, a doctor can drain it through a small incision on the inside of the lid or inject a steroid to shrink it.
Milia: Tiny White Bumps
Milia are pinpoint white bumps, usually smaller than 2 millimeters, that appear on or around the eyelids. They form when bits of dead skin cells get trapped just below the skin’s surface and harden into a tiny cyst filled with keratin, the same protein found in hair and nails. Unlike whiteheads, milia sit in a sealed pocket beneath the skin, so you can’t squeeze them out no matter how hard you try.
Sunburn, skin injuries, and even blistering can trigger milia. As damaged skin heals, small fragments of the outer skin layer get trapped underneath, forming new cysts. They’re completely harmless and sometimes disappear on their own, but the ones on eyelids often stick around. A dermatologist can remove them with a quick extraction using a small needle, which is the only reliable way to get rid of them.
Molluscum Contagiosum in Children
About 5 in 100 children in the United States develop molluscum contagiosum, a viral skin infection that can appear anywhere on the body, including the eyelids. The bumps are small (2 to 5 millimeters), pink or skin-colored, smooth, and shiny, with a distinctive small dent in the center that helps distinguish them from other eyelid growths. They spread through direct skin contact, so children who touch their bumps and then rub their eyes can transfer the virus to the eyelid area.
Molluscum bumps near the eye can sometimes cause irritation of the eye’s surface. The infection is self-limiting, meaning the immune system eventually clears it, though this can take months. When bumps are near the eye or causing discomfort, a doctor may recommend removal.
Papillomas and Skin Tags
Squamous papillomas are the most common benign growths on the eyelid. They look like smooth, round, flesh-colored bumps or small pouches of skin, and they’re primarily caused by age-related changes in the skin. Sun exposure is a known trigger. Some papillomas are caused by viruses, which is why avoiding direct contact with raised skin bumps on other people is a reasonable precaution.
These growths are harmless, but they can be annoying if they catch on things, obstruct your vision, or simply bother you cosmetically. Removal is a straightforward office procedure: a dermatologist or ophthalmologist numbs the area with local anesthesia, cuts out the lesion, and cauterizes the spot to stop any bleeding.
Xanthelasma: Yellow Patches Near the Nose
Xanthelasma appears as yellowish, flat or slightly raised patches on or near the inner corners of the eyelids, closest to the nose. These deposits are made of cholesterol that has accumulated under the skin. They can be soft or firm and tend to grow slowly over time.
About half of people with xanthelasma have high cholesterol, often the inherited type or cholesterol elevation linked to liver disease. The other half have completely normal cholesterol levels, so the presence of xanthelasma alone doesn’t confirm a lipid problem. Still, if you notice these yellow patches developing, it’s worth having your cholesterol checked. The patches themselves are harmless but don’t go away on their own. Removal options include surgical excision, chemical peels, or laser treatment, though they can recur.
When a Bump Could Be Skin Cancer
The vast majority of eyelid bumps are benign, but basal cell carcinoma, the most common type of skin cancer, frequently occurs on the eyelids because of their sun exposure. A cancerous bump typically looks different from the growths described above in a few specific ways.
On lighter skin, basal cell carcinoma often appears as a shiny, pearly, or translucent bump, sometimes with tiny visible blood vessels running through it. On darker skin, the bump may look brown or glossy black. Other warning signs include a sore that bleeds and scabs over but never fully heals, a waxy or scarlike patch without a clear border, or a lesion with dark spots and a slightly raised, translucent edge. The key feature that separates cancer from a stye or chalazion is persistence: a bump that doesn’t heal, keeps growing, or changes in appearance over weeks to months needs evaluation by a doctor.
Preventing Recurrent Eyelid Bumps
People who get frequent styes or chalazia often have a low-grade condition called blepharitis, where the oil glands along the eyelid margin become chronically inflamed or clogged. A simple daily hygiene routine can significantly reduce flare-ups. Start by placing a warm, wet washcloth over your closed eyes for several minutes to soften any hardened oil in the glands. Then put a few drops of baby shampoo on a clean washcloth and gently scrub along the lash line before rinsing thoroughly.
Avoid touching or rubbing your eyes with unwashed hands, replace eye makeup every few months (mascara and eyeliner in particular harbor bacteria), and remove all makeup before bed. If you wear contact lenses, clean them as directed and wash your hands before handling them. These steps won’t prevent every type of eyelid bump, but they address the most common underlying cause: oil gland blockage made worse by bacteria and debris along the lid margin.