What to do if there is pustules in the eyes

Eyes are an important part of our body. In daily life, we must pay attention to eye hygiene, avoid eating foods that are irritating to the eyes, and let the eyes rest in time when they become tired. Many people must have experienced a pustule growing inside their eyes, and also felt redness, swelling and pain on the eyelids. This is a pustule, which must not be squeezed.

Stye, commonly known as sty, is an acute suppurative inflammation of the sebaceous glands or meibomian glands near the eyelash follicles. Children are particularly susceptible to illness because they do not pay much attention to hygiene and like to rub their eyes with their hands. Styes usually heal within a few days.

There are two kinds of glands on the eyelids. The sebaceous glands at the root of the eyelashes open into the hair follicles. The meibomian glands are buried in the tarsal plates near the junctional membrane and open into the eyelid margins. Stye is an acute suppurative inflammation of these two glands. The bacteria that cause styes are mostly Staphylococcus aureus, so styes are mostly purulent inflammations.

Symptoms of a stye

1. Localized redness, swelling, heat and pain on the eyelid skin, and edema of the adjacent conjunctiva.

2. After 3-5 days, pustules will form and pus with yellow heads will appear on the eyelids around the base of the eyelashes. The eyelid skin around the pus head becomes swollen and inflamed. External hordeolum occurs in the sebaceous glands at the root of the eyelashes and manifests itself on the skin surface; internal hordeolum occurs in the meibomian glands and manifests itself on the conjunctival surface.

3. Pain or tenderness. After the ulcer breaks and pus is discharged, the pain is relieved and the redness and swelling subside.

4. In severe cases, there are enlarged and tender preauricular and submandibular lymph nodes, chills and fever, etc.

Stye is divided into two types: internal and external, and the symptoms of the two are different.

1. External hordeolum is an acute suppurative inflammation of the Zeiss gland. Initially, the eyelid margin is locally congested and swollen, and a nodule forms after about 2-3 days. There is obvious swelling, pain and tenderness. Later, the nodule gradually softens and a yellow pustule forms at the root of the eyelashes, which breaks through and discharges pus and heals quickly. If the pathogen is highly toxic, it may cause edema of the eyelids and nearby conjunctiva. The preauricular lymph nodes are swollen and tender, especially in the lateral canthus. Severely ill children may have systemic symptoms such as chills and fever.

2. Internal wheat is an acute suppurative inflammation of the meibomian glands. Its clinical symptoms are not as severe as those of external hordeolum because the inflamed meibomian glands are surrounded by firm meibomian tissue. Yellow pus is often faintly visible on the surface of the congested palpebral conjunctiva, and may break through and discharge pus into the conjunctival sac on its own. There may be a slight bulge and congestion at the opening of the meibomian gland, and pus may be discharged along the meibomian gland duct. In a few cases, pus may be discharged from the skin through the duct. If the tarsal plate cannot be penetrated and the pathogen is highly toxic, the inflammation will expand, invade the entire tarsal plate tissue, and form an eyelid abscess.