Chalazions – how can I stop getting them?!

[lliij8]

For those not in the know (lucky you), chalazions are eyelid lumps/bumps/cysts. They are right bastards.

I had five (FIVE!) removed from my right eye a few years ago. Now I've got another two in my left eye. It looks awful, all red and swollen. And it's sore, and I look like shit, and I'm meant to be client-facing for work.

I've got an eye hospital appointment, but it keeps getting pushed back.

Has anyone figured out how to stop getting them? Is it something I'm eating? Or doing, or not doing?

I am sure that something must be triggering this, but I have no idea what. I am really fit and healthy otherwise. I use the eye wipes every day, don't touch my eyes etc. Bloody fed up of it.

I was told to use an eye gel. It was prescribed for me. They said mine was caused because my eyes were too dry. 8 don’t make enough tears.

DD had one and had it removed but had to go private (£500) as kept getting pushed back by nhs. She’s only early 20s and felt self conscious. Dr said blepharitis can cause it but she has had no other problems.

My 8 year old gets them too. We have to use baby shampoo in warm water and wipe the eyes every night. Even use cotton buds to wipe lower lash line. She also has a warm eye pad and we encourage her to massage her eye with a warm cotton pad. It’s currently keeping them at bay but probably not permanently. One was so bad last year, it burst on her eyelid and created a cm long scab!! Was due to have it removed privately as NHS was too long. Thankfully, after a bit of rough and tumble with her siblings it got knocked off. Good luck and hoping others have better suggestions x

Heat and massage. You can buy eye bags that go in microwave put on your eyes for at least then minutes then massage from the top of the lid down, from the bottom up, then clean. You need to do this at least twice a day (more if you can) and they can take a while to go. It really needs constant heat so a warm flannel under the hot tap won't retain the heat or be hot enough. When they eventually go try keeping up a routine as a preventative measure.

Mine were related to rosacea (appeared before the facial symptoms). A course of lymecycline tablets helped a bit as did regular heat packs and gentle massage. Opthamologist has since recommended taking fish oil / omega 3 supplements.

Thanks all. I have had no luck at all with heat packs/hot compresses. Dread to think how much of my life I have spent lying down with a bloody heat pack on my face. Or with a bowl of hot water and a flannel. Or at the tap. Tried all the different ways of doing it.

My chalazions seem to be rock-solid immediately. No one has ever actually explained to me what the heat is supposed to do once the chalazion has appeared. Melt it? Dissolve it? Not for me. The fucking things sit there, rock solid, and all I get is a redder, more swollen eye. They certainly do not soften with heat, whatever temperature I'm using.

I don't have rosacea but I do have ezcema (although not on my face). Fish oil supplements were expensive and didn't seem to make any difference.

Quite down about it today. Can't wear makeup, look like I've been punched in the eye. And it's sore too. Trying to be grateful that it's not actually serious or harmful but fucks sake I wasn't even pretty to begin with.

The heat is meant to soften the hard oil build up which is why it is important to massage the eye after to help the oil drain. I know they are frustrating and not what you want to hear but they can take months for severe cases to go.

Thank you @Margperry I do the massage too, towards the lash line. Seems to make it more painful and look worse, and the lump remains solid. Previously mine haven't resolved themselves, which is why they were surgically removed.

What's the idea, that all the gunk will turn to liquid and suddenly ooze out of the gland along the lash line? Or is the idea that it somehow disperses into the surrounding tissue?

I hate to be someone who appears to be rejecting/dismissing advice, so I am sorry about that, and I am grateful to you and others for replying.

Just fed up. It's going to be a long wait to be seen, and it's looking like £1,000+ to go private – and maybe I'll have to pay out again a few months later.

I got two In quick succession this year and was told to use drops to prevent dry eye.

Might be worth a shot?

I really feel for you. One of mine was so bad it took over my whole face and my phone wouldn't even recognise me! I was very depressed about it.

Dd used to get them, she has anterior and posterior blepharitis. I know you said the hot compresses and cleaning don't work but I gave up asking DH to do it sometimes as he just didn't do it the way I did. One of her chalazions turned into a horrid keratin horn people used to comment on and when that came off the shape of her eyelid was changed and scarred.

If she had a chalazion it would be at least 3 hot compresses a day (before school, after school and before bed). As a pp said the boiled water would cool down quickly so I would be refreshing the flannel and putting it back and after just leaving it a bit I would massage chalazion. I would use baby shampoo in boiled water to scrub the eye lashes making sure each eyelash could move about and wasn't stiff or had debris in and around. Then the inner lid would be cleaned where the glands are so not blocked on the surface. For us the wipes were useless.

Eye drops were essential for keeping DD's eyes moist which you may need even if you don't think you feel it or need it.

Ds 10 had one this week; the heated flannels twice a day (should be more but school) really helped and it was gone in 2 days.

Sorry massively unhelpful as you say it didn't work.

Try again will all the advice here and chase your appointment

It's not about melting the chelazion but about stopping them coming by melting the oil in the blocked pores before the chelazion builds.

So keep the lashes scrubbed clean and hot melted every day to prevent the starting.

Have you tried castor oil compresses?

They're usually due to meibomian gland dysfunction.
Have you tried doing the hot compresses and massage routinely when you haven't got a chalazion?

If you have, there are a range of treatments that you can try including topical antibiotics which you can rub into your eyelids or oral tetracyclines (which cannot be taken whilst pregnant). Your doctor may or may not be comfortable prescribing these, so can either refer you, or you may find a local optometrist has a dry eye clinic - ideally you want to find someone who is also an independent prescriber, so that they can prescribe the medication themselves.

[[https://dryeyecentre.co.uk/meet-the-team dryeyecentre.co.uk/meet-the-team/
The other thing which can help is a device called lipiflow.

https://www.optimalvision.co.uk/dry-eye-lipi-flow-treatment-eye-clinic

If you would like to be referred on the NHS, the referral could come from the GP, or alternatively, you can just get a regular eye exam and they will refer you directly.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/general_health/5216031-chalazion?reply=140047452

I recently found out that many people who get chalazia are deficient in vitamin A and made a thread.