Natural Styes Treatments

The term stye refers to a small painful boil, an inflammed hair follicle or an infection of a sebaceous gland in the edge of the eyelid. The infecting organism is usually a staphylococcus. This disease occurs due to debilitated condition of the system. Some persons seem more prone to these infections than others.

Symptoms of Styes

A stye gives rise to a throbbing pain which can be out of all proportions to its size. It can be felt for a day or two even before the stye is visible. It is accompanied by redness, swelling and oedema of the lid and conjunctiva. Sometimes, the infection disappears quickly without becoming a red swelling. But other styes worsen rapidly until the eyelid is very swollen. In the final stage, the stye will burst and discharge pus, causing the eyelids to stick together during a night's sleep in severe cases.

Causes of Styes

Stye results from an infection of the hair follicles. It may also result from blocking of the gland by dirt due to error of refraction. Recurrent styes occur because the infection is spread from one hair shaft to another often by the patient rubbing to relieve itching.

The real cause of styes is the toxic condition of the system brought about by wrong feeding habits, especially consumption of foods such as white bread, refined cereals, boiled potatoes, puddings, pies, pastries and confectionary. The disease makes its appearance when a person is in a run-down condition and below par. Eye strain is also a subsidiary factor in the onset of styes.

Natural Treatment for Styes

The stye usually disappears on its own in two or three days.

The progress of the condition can be curtailed by pulling the eyelash at the site of the inflammation. Periodic application of moist warm compresses brings the pus out enabling its easy drainage. Sometimes it has to be evacuated by an incision with a knife. As stye can spread from an infected person to other members of the family, it is essential that the patient is given a separate face flannel and towel at least while his stye is at the discharging stage he should be discouraged from scratching.

To be effective, the treatment for stye should be constitutional. A thorough cleansing of the system and adoption of natural laws in diet and general living can help eliminate stye. To begin with, the patient should be placed on an exclusive diet of fresh fruits for two or three days. In this regimen, he should be given three meals a day of fresh juicy fruits such as orange, apple, pineapple, pear, peach and papaya. If possible, warm water enema should be given daily during this period to cleanse the bowels. Thereafter, he may be allowed to gradually embark upon a well-balanced diet. The emphasis should be on whole grain cereals, fresh fruits and raw or lightly-cooked vegetables.

The patient should avoid an excessive intake of starchy and sugary foods, meat and other protein and fatty foods, strong tea, coffee and too much salt, condiments and sauces.

Certain home remedies have been found beneficial in the treatment of styes. The most important of these is the use of clove (laung). This spice should be rubbed in water and applied over the eyes. This will give instant relief. The seed of a date rubbed with water can also be applied over styes with beneficial results.

The patient should be encouraged to adopt various methods of relaxing and strengthening the eyes. These include eye exercises like moving the eyes gently up and down, from side to side in a circle, clock-wise and anti-clockwise, rotating the neck in circles and semi-circles and briskly moving the shoulders clockwise and anti-clockwise.

The patient should also resort to palming which is beneficial in removing strain and relaxing the eyes and its surrounding tissues. The procedure is as fellows: sit comfortably in an arm chair or on a settee and relax with your eyes closed. Cover your eyes with your palms, right palm over the right eye and the left over the left eye. Do not, howe/er press down on the eyes. With your eyes closed thus, try to imagine blackness, which grows blacker and blacker. Palming reduces strain and relaxes the eyes and its surrounding tissues.

Styes can be prevented by good hygiene, proper diet and by adopting various methods for relaxing and strengthening the eyes, as outlined above.