What Triggers an Eye Stye?

"What triggers an eye stye?" Let's break down the common causes and provide practical tips on how to prevent them. Understanding these triggers is essential for maintaining proper eyelid hygiene and preventing future styes.

 

 

 

 

 

Common Triggers of an Eye Stye

A stye is typically an infection of the meibomian oil glands in your eyelid. Here are the main triggers:

• Bacterial Infection: Staphylococcus aureus is the most common bacteria responsible for styes.
• Poor Eyelid Hygiene: Not cleaning your eyelids regularly can lead to the buildup of oils and bacteria. 

 

 

 

• Using Expired or Contaminated Cosmetics: Old / expired eye makeup means that the preservative system is no longer valid and bacteria and yeast can grow inside the formulas. 
• Sleeping in Eye Makeup: Sometimes it's an accident and pow - stye the next day. Read more if this is you.
• Touching Your Eyes Frequently: Your hands carry germs; frequent touching can transfer bacteria to your eyelids.
• Underlying Skin Conditions: Conditions like ocular rosacea or blepharitis can increase the risk of developing a stye.

 

Additional Factors to Consider

Other factors may also contribute to the formation of a stye:

• Stress: High stress levels can weaken your immune system, making it easier for infections to occur. Big events like weddings, moving, and final exams usually brings in the patient with the stye!
• Hormonal Changes: Fluctuations in hormones may affect oil gland secretions, increasing the risk of blockage. Think pregnancy, nursing, menopause, diabetes, puberty, etc . . .
• Environmental Irritants: Dust, smoke, or allergens can irritate the eyes and eyelids, potentially leading to inflammation and infection.

 

 

Prevention and Eye Care Tips

Preventing a stye is pretty easy once you get the hang of it. It does involve work! Here is a list of what I tell my patents: 

• Maintain Eyelid Hygiene: Clean your eyelids once a day. Do something! Most of my patient have my Stye Cleansing System. Maybe you don't do all the steps everyday for maintenance, but you gotta do something. Patients usually elect for just the foam or just the spray when their eyes are feeling great. 
• Use Clean Cosmetics: I'm a stickler for this. No more junk. Pick cosmetics with 'clean' ingredients. Some trial and error is required. Find the mascara, eyeliner, eyeshadow that's right for you. I send them to PetitVour and Credo. 
• Avoid Touching Your Eyes: I encourage the wearing of glasses over contact lenses for this reason alone. Stop touching your eyes with dirty hands. Hand washing, yes. Glasses get in the way when you're touching your eyes. Glasses help my patients to be more mindful.
• Do You: Life is busy. Do something for yourself to lower stress as it's a common trigger for stye. Sleep - sleep - sleep and walking 20 minutes after dinner works wonders for stress! 

 

 

 

 

For those looking for a comprehensive approach to eye hygiene, I recommend checking out my Stye Cleansing System. It will clean a current stye but also be customized for preventing new ones. More importantly, you have all the cleansers and tools to zap what I call 'pre-stye' - a mini flare up before it even becomes a stye. 

Learn more about it here: Stye Cleansing System.