Why Do I Keep Getting Styes?

By Ally Daoud, Australian Optometrist and Dermii Co-founder

The short answer

If styes keep coming back, the cause usually isn't bad luck. It's that something about your lid margin (the strip of skin where your eyelashes meet your eyelid) keeps creating the conditions a stye needs to form. The most common contributor is build-up at the lid margin that blocks the oil glands.

Daily lid hygiene addresses that build-up. If styes recur despite good lid hygiene, or if a stye doesn't resolve within a few weeks, please see your optometrist or GP. Recurring styes can sometimes indicate something that needs medical attention.

What is a stye

A stye is a small, often painful lump that appears on the eyelid. There are two main types.

External styes (technically called hordeolums) form at the base of an eyelash, usually caused by a blocked and infected eyelash follicle. They look red, feel tender, and often come to a head within a few days.

Internal styes form deeper in the eyelid, in one of the oil glands along the lid margin. These can feel more like a hard lump and often take longer to resolve.

A third related condition is the chalazion, which is a slow-developing, usually painless lump caused by a blocked oil gland that hasn't become infected. Chalazions are sometimes confused with styes. They're a separate thing, and recurring chalazions in the same spot warrant a clinical look.

Why styes happen in the first place

The eyelid is constantly being asked to do a lot. Every blink (around 12 to 15 times a minute when you're not on a screen) sweeps a thin layer of oil and tears across the surface of your eye. That oil comes from dozens of small glands that sit along the inside edge of each eyelid, just behind the lash line. These are the meibomian glands.

When those glands are clear and working, you don't notice them at all. The oil they release stabilises your tear film, keeps your eyes comfortable, and protects the lid margin itself.

When something blocks one of those glands (debris, dead skin cells, makeup residue, or build-up over time) the oil gets trapped. If bacteria already present on your skin enters the blocked gland, it can become inflamed and infected. That's a stye.

So a stye is, broadly speaking, a blocked-then-inflamed oil gland or follicle. Once you understand that, the question of why they recur starts to answer itself.

Why styes recur

If you've had more than three or four styes in a year, especially in the same area of the eyelid, the underlying conditions on your lid margin are probably the issue. Here's what we see most often in clinic.

1. Chronic lid margin build-up

Most people don't actively clean their lid margin. The skin where eyelashes meet eyelid collects a thin film of makeup residue, oil, debris, and dead skin every day. Most face washes and most eye-makeup removers don't reach that specific strip. They clean around it, not at it.

Over weeks and months, that build-up sits at the openings of the oil glands and the lash follicles. It doesn't always cause symptoms. But it changes the local environment of the lid margin in ways that make styes much more likely.

2. Demodex mites

Demodex are microscopic mites that live on the skin of most adults, including in eyelash follicles. In small numbers they're harmless. In larger numbers (which become more common with age and with limited lid hygiene) they can contribute to lid margin inflammation and recurrent styes.

A clinical diagnosis of Demodex-related blepharitis is something your optometrist can confirm. We can't make that diagnosis from a blog post. But if you have recurring styes plus crusty eyelashes, itching at the lid margin, or eyelashes that look dusty close up, mention it to your eye care professional.

3. Meibomian gland dysfunction

When the oil glands along the lid margin chronically don't release oil properly, the oil thickens inside the gland. Sometimes it stays stuck (a chalazion). Sometimes it becomes infected (a stye). People with meibomian gland dysfunction often have a history of multiple styes, chalazions, or both. Usually on the same few eyelids that have the most affected glands.

4. Hormonal changes

Hormonal shifts (particularly during perimenopause and menopause) can change how the meibomian glands behave. Reduced oil production combined with thicker, more solid oil makes blockages more likely. People in their 40s and 50s often notice an uptick in styes or eyelid bumps for this reason.

5. Skincare and makeup habits

Heavy eye makeup that's hard to remove cleanly, oil-based products applied close to the lash line, eyelash extensions, eyeliner along the waterline (the inner rim of the eyelid), and false lashes glued to the lid margin all create more opportunities for build-up. None of these alone causes styes. Millions of people use all of them without issue. But for someone already prone to recurring styes, these habits often push the lid margin past its tolerance threshold.

6. Contact lens hygiene

Contact lens wearers who handle their lenses with hands that haven't been thoroughly washed, or who reuse lens cases without cleaning, can transfer bacteria to the lid margin during insertion and removal. This contributes to lid margin bacterial load and, indirectly, to stye frequency.

7. Underlying medical conditions

Some systemic conditions (rosacea, certain autoimmune disorders, diabetes) are associated with higher rates of recurring styes. If you have an underlying condition AND recurring styes, your optometrist or GP can help you understand whether they're connected and how to manage both.

What daily lid hygiene does

If you've read this far, the pattern is probably clear. Most contributors to recurring styes share something in common. They all affect what's happening at the lid margin. Daily lid hygiene targets that exact strip of skin.

A daily lid hygiene routine usually involves three things, done morning and evening.

Cleansing the lid margin. A wipe or cleanser specifically designed for the lid margin removes the day's accumulated debris, oil, makeup residue, and dead skin cells. This is the step most people skip. Regular face wash doesn't reach the lash line.

Supporting a clean lid environment. A hypochlorous acid mist (which is a substance your body produces naturally) supports clean, healthy skin at the lid margin between cleansings. Hypochlorous acid has been used in ophthalmic care for years because of how gentle it is on the delicate skin around the eye.

Warming the oil glands. A warm compress or self-warming mask, used a few times a week, softens any oil that has thickened in the glands and helps it release. This is the step that addresses meibomian gland function specifically.

Done daily, this routine reduces the conditions that contribute to recurring styes for many people. It is not a treatment for any specific medical condition, and it doesn't replace clinical care if you've got an underlying issue. But it changes the environment at the lid margin, which is where most stye recurrence patterns start.

The Lid Lover Starter Bundle from Dermii is one version of this routine. There are others. The key thing is doing it daily. Most people who try lid hygiene give up in the first two weeks before it has time to make a difference.

When to see your optometrist

This article describes a common pattern. It is not a substitute for clinical advice. Please see your optometrist or GP if:

• A stye doesn't resolve within two to three weeks
• A stye is unusually large, painful, or affects your vision
• You're getting recurrent styes despite good daily lid hygiene
• The skin around the eye is becoming red, hot, or swollen beyond the stye itself (can indicate spreading infection)
• You have a known underlying condition (rosacea, autoimmune, diabetes) and styes are becoming more frequent
• You're using prescription medications and are concerned about interactions with any new lid hygiene product

Many causes of recurring styes are mechanical and respond to consistent daily lid hygiene. Some don't, and need clinical attention. The cost of seeing your optometrist is small compared to the cost of repeated styes left unmanaged.

Frequently asked questions

How long does it take to see a difference if I start a daily lid hygiene routine? For most people, the visible difference shows up around day fourteen to twenty-one. The first week often feels like nothing's changing. The oil glands at the lid margin take two to three weeks to recover, and the first week is the hardest. Most people who quit, quit at day six or seven, before the routine has had time to work.

Can I pop a stye to make it go away faster? No. Squeezing or popping a stye can spread the infection deeper into the eyelid or to surrounding tissue. Apply a warm compress, keep the area clean, and let it resolve naturally. If it's still there after two to three weeks, see your optometrist.

Can I wear makeup if I have a stye? It's best to avoid eye makeup until the stye has resolved. Brushes, applicators, and product residue can re-introduce bacteria to the lid margin and slow healing. After the stye is gone, discard any eye makeup you were using when it formed, particularly mascara and liner.

Are heated eye masks helpful for styes? Warm compresses are commonly recommended for an active stye and can help it come to a head and drain. For preventing recurring styes, warming as part of a daily lid hygiene routine helps maintain healthy oil flow in the meibomian glands, which is one of the underlying factors. Self-heating disposable masks make this easier to do consistently than warm flannels.

Are recurring styes a sign of poor immune health? Most recurring styes are mechanical. They're driven by what's happening at the lid margin, not by systemic immune issues. That said, if recurring styes appear alongside other symptoms (fatigue, slow wound healing, recurring infections elsewhere), worth mentioning to your GP.

Are tea tree oil products safe to use near the eye? Pure or undiluted tea tree oil is too strong for direct application near the eye. Properly formulated lid wipes use carefully calibrated tea tree concentrations that are safe and effective at the lid margin. Lid Love wipes are one example. Don't apply pure tea tree essential oil to the lid margin yourself.

Will daily lid hygiene cure my styes? No. Daily lid hygiene isn't a cure for any specific medical condition. It supports a clean lid environment, which is one factor among several that affect stye frequency. If you have an underlying medical cause for recurring styes, lid hygiene is supportive care alongside clinical treatment, not a replacement for it.

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About the author: Ally is a practising optometrist in Australia and the co-founder of Dermii, an Australian lid-hygiene brand. The information in this article is general and is not a substitute for clinical advice. If you're concerned about your eye health, please see your optometrist or GP.