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Magazine
For your eyes only
DR. P. KANTHAMANI
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How can one prevent styes?
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Boils on the eyelids (styes) are due to bacterial infection of glands present at the root of the eyelashes.
Treatment comprises hot water fomentation — hold a towel soaked in hot water over the area for five minutes — and using antibiotic drops or ointment for a week. Pain relievers are also prescribed. Oral antibiotics are held in reserve for those with severe infection that may lead to an abscess.
Tarsal cysts or chalazions are formed when vertically placed oil glands (meibomian glands) in the tarsal plates of the lids get blocked at their openings in the lid margins. This results in a pooling of the secretions, which usually increases with time. Occasionally this may get infected, resulting in a boil. A large chalazion requires a minor surgical procedure with a niche only on the inner side of the lid rendering aesthetic satisfaction of the patient.
Persistent boils tend to occur conventionally in diabetics, those with refractive errors, itchy eyes (those who frequently rub eyes) or are associated with lid margin infection called blepharitis.
Recently a 24-year-old software engineer turned up with boils in both lids of the upper eye. The upper one was threatening to develop into an abscess. He was given appropriate treatment but returned with more boils, this time in the other eye.
Further questioning revealed that his working hours were 8.00 a.m. to midnight and that he could snatch only a four-hour nap. He was advised to sleep at least seven hours to build up immunity to combat the staphylococcal germs normally present around the lids.
The most common cause for repeated eruptions of boils on the eyelids is lack of adequate or quality sleep. Any prescription for infection of lids also includes control of blood sugar or correction of power.
The writer is a Chennai-based senior ophthalmologist interested in preventive eye care.
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