Sty and Chalazion both are lumps and occur on the eyelid. These can be treated at home using the warm compress and antibiotic ointment. Apart from these common points everything is different between these two eye tribulations.
Cause
Sty pops up due to the bacterial infection in the eye. The bacteria grow in the root of eyelash and results to sty development. On the other hand chalazion occurs due the inflammation caused by the oil glands present in the upper and lower eyelids of the eyes. The oil glands are known as Meibomian glands. When the thick secretion called sebum is blocked inside the oil gland, it starts accumulating and leads to the lump formation known as Chalazion.
Symptoms
If on the eyelid a small red bump similar to pimple appears then it is sty while in case the eye looks small due to puffiness of the eyelid then it is chalazion. Amongst the two, sty is very painful where as chalazion would seldom pain. Only in 3 days sty would grow full and gets healed in a week but chalazion grows very slowly. It would take 2-3 weeks to grow fully and might take few days to heal completely. As sty grows and heals faster it does not cause blurriness but chalazion interferes with the vision due to its size. Eyes would ooze off little water when sty occurs whilst it does not happen with chalazion.
Chalazion does not spread like sty. When sty breaks open and drains the pus subsequently at that moment if oozed off pus comes in contact with any other part of the body then there are chances that it would spread.
Demographics
Children with less resistance are more prone to sty when compared to adults though Chalazion is more common in adults than kids. Amid the adults, men are more prone to this lump on the eyelid than women.
In this approach one would be able to differentiate between sty and chalazion. By taking few precautions these lump occurrence could be evaded such as clean hands thoroughly before wearing or taking out the contact lens; do not share towels with anyone; do no frequently rub eyes; ensure to take off the eye makeup before sleeping and keep changing the eye make up cosmetics every six months. Put into practice these habits and stay away from sty and chalazion furthermore don’t mistake between the two!
