Chalazion treatment

How to treat

Treatment for an eye cyst or chalazion might not be necessary, as they usually shrink⁶ and go away by themselves over time.³

However, it’s generally a good idea to see your optometrist if you have a lump on your eyelid. This way we can take a look and make sure it isn’t anything too serious. We can also suggest remedies to relieve any uncomfortable symptoms, like irritation, soreness or itching.⁸

It’s possible to help heal a chalazion on your lower or upper eyelid more quickly with treatment. A simple home remedy for chalazion treatment is a warm compress. Wash your hands first, then dampen a clean face cloth with lukewarm water. Then press the cloth against your eyelid for 10 to 15 minutes, 1–2 times a day. You will probably need to moisten the cloth with warm water again if it cools down during the process.¹ Applying a warm compress like this can help to soften the hardened oil that’s causing the chalazion and help it to drain away, making the chalazion go down more quickly.³

Massage with a cotton bud or swab

Massaging the cyst after using a hot compress can encourage the cyst to drain. Do this gently, with a clean finger or cotton bud, in the direction of your eyelashes.¹⁰

Medication

A pharmacist or doctor may recommend over-the-counter treatments, like eye drops, ointments, and medicated pads, to reduce any soreness or irritation caused by your chalazion and to try to help it drain away more quickly.⁸

Surgical treatment

If your chalazion gets bigger, doesn’t go away by itself within a month or starts making some of your eyelashes fall out, it may need treatment by a doctor.

Your doctor might give you a steroid injection³ or anti-inflammatory eye drops ², ⁸. If there is an infection, they can also prescribe antibiotic pills²,⁸. The steroid injection can reduce inflammation and can help the chalazion to go down more quickly.⁷ Your doctor may be more likely to recommend a steroid injection if your chalazion is small or if it’s near your tear ducts.⁷

Alternatively, or if your chalazion is big, your doctor might remove it surgically. They would perform an excision of the chalazion, which means cutting it out, usually from the inside of the eyelid so that you don’t end up with a visible scar on the outside of your eyelid.³ Once they’ve cut into the chalazion they can remove the blocked oil from it. You would most likely have this surgery under local anaesthetic, in the form of anaesthetic eye drops and an injection into your eyelid⁶. Young children may need a general anaesthetic instead.²

It’s a relatively quick procedure (about 20 minutes), and you can go home on the same day. Your GP might even be able to perform the procedure.⁶ However, you shouldn’t drive yourself home, because of having to wear an eye pad after.⁶

While your chalazion is healing

Once your chalazion begins to go down, try to avoid touching the area. If it’s going down, this means there’s an opening for the contents to drain through. It’s best not to touch this area to make sure you don’t get any germs in, which could cause an infection.⁸

Never try to squeeze or burst a chalazion, as this can cause an infection and make it worse.⁸

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