9 replies to this topic

[Addie]

I have a cyst (acne cyst) on my lower eyelid. Anybody else get these? That skin is so, so thin. And right up on my eye. Can it cause any extra damage? I can't really put any medication there, but letting it heal naturally will take forever. Did I mention "Ow,"?

[~ Dee]

(BTW, I love the cuddly little rodents in your AV!)


Are you sure it isn't a stye?
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&...mages&gbv=2

[Addie]

Nah, I get styes a lot. It's lower down on the outside of my eyelid and a lot bigger.

Thanks for the google image search, though. Pictures always are always really helpful. ( . . . and I never have pictures of anything I'm talking about . . . )

And thanks for the compliment on my avatar. They were kissy, little attention hogs, so they'd have loved you, too. Especially if you came bearing treats . . . or Starbucks . . . or tofu . . .

[Addie]

Update: This is pretty cool now. The skin is so thin, I can see the ball of pus through it.

[TheChangingman]

Hope it goes away quickly for you, I can imagine its quite painful. If it puts any pressure on your actual eye I'd get to the docs, not that I know if it could do any damage but our eyes are delicate.

[Addie]

Well, my eyeball still feels okay, so that's good. I now have a black eye, though . . . At least that's mostly a cosmetic problem . . . The pus ball has also grown.

Edit: Now I can feel the swelling from the inside. Very weird.

[Wynne]

Ice it; that may help. But then again, sometimes ones that are on thin-skinned areas do tend to come to a head more quickly. If you're brave, you could try putting a warm to hot moist washcloth on it. I'd still rather stick with ice; that will reduce the pain and swelling. There's no guarantee the lesion would burst with applied heat. It might just swell and cause more pain.

[Addie]

It seriously looks like it'd bust out if you even looked at it funny, but ice sounds more comfy for now . . .

[smoothe]

I don't think you have an acne cyst on your eyelid. Search "chalazian". It is an absess of the lubricating gland of the eyelid (these glands produce the "mucus-y" stuff you see in the corner of you eyes). If you are able to roll your eyelid down to look inside, you will probably see the lump with a white center (center turns white when it is close to popping). The duct to the gland has gotten irritated and blocked. Use hot compresses and gental massage and it should open on its own. Don't be alarmed, your eyelid will get sore and probably swell a little.

People with dry eyes are more prone to get chalazians, as well as people who are on oral treatments to dry up acne. Avoid over the counter eyedrops - they actually dry the eye more.

[Addie]

It's on the outside, not the inside. As in, the head is pointing towards the outside world, not my eyeball.

When a medication triggered the rest of my body to step up the acne production, it also triggered excessive inflammation and sebum production in my eye area. Minocycline is supposed to eventually help some, but I still frequently get blackheads, with only occasional inflammatory acne, on my eyelids. I have to directly wash and remove oil from my eyelids and eyelashes, too, which seems to help. I also use drops to help with the inflammation and flush out any excess sebum/sweat mix that gets in there before it irritates things too much. (The drops my opthamologist has me use just lubricate and prevent water from evaporating. They don't have any antihistamines or steroids in them. One is just a mix of light and heavy mineral oil.)

The thing-a-ma-jig looks to be receding! The black eye is healing well, too.