Eye Infections During Quarantine - Will you be next?

After several months of some length of self-quarantine, we are all beginning to notice new things about ourselves.  This has been an interesting topic in many a Facebook post over the past few months.  

In the health care industry, we have found many different consequences of staying indoors and keeping away from others.  The country may have slowed the spread of COVID-19 with these measures, but other health dilemmas have come about.

In the eye care industry, we have noticed an increase in eyelid infections, namely styes.  A stye is an infection in the oil glands of the eyelid.   The lid becomes red, tender, and inflamed.   As the infection continues, it tends to concentrate in one round area which is red, raised, and tender to the touch.

There are two types of styes:

• External: is characterized by a white head forming at the edge of the lid margin (aka hordeolum)
• Internal:  typically does not have a visible white head, because the infection is in a gland underneath the lid (aka chalazion) 

 A stye forms when bacteria are trapped inside an oil gland. The most common cause is from having bacteria on your hands and rubbing the eye. In this case, you spread that bacteria from your nose or from shaking someone else's hand and then place it near your eye when you rub it.  

There are bacteria, which normally live on the eyelids and lashes.  The bacteria most commonly found on our lids and the upper respiratory tract is Staphylococcus aureus.  Typically, a stye is a type of staph infection.

The bacteria become trapped inside this gland and creates an infection. The tissue of the eyelid gets red and inflamed and usually a little bit painful.  A bump forms on the lid where the infection is contained. 

Why did these stye infections occur more frequently during quarantine?

One of the mails reasons is that many people spent much more time watching their digital devices. During times when you are using a digital device, your normal blink rate decreases.

That just means that you don't blink as many times as you normally would if you were in conversation. So when the blink rate decreases the body's defense mechanism of washing away bacteria is also diminished. Check out this blog to read about blinking and how it can help to keep your eyes more clear when using the computer. 

So, most of us weren’t blinking as much.  On top of that, we started wearing masks to cover our noses and mouth.  So, air from our noses and mouths were blowing up into our eyes.  Any bacteria from our nose or mouth was then in direct contact with the eyes.  You didn’t even need to rub your eyes in this case.   

People tend to be more at risk for developing styes if:

• they have had one before - there is probably an overpopulation of the bacteria that causes styes on your lids
• wear contact lenses - more likely to be touching the eyelids
• wear makeup that is contaminated - this could come from not disposing of eye makeup regularly, not cleaning makeup brushes regularly, not removing eye makeup before bed, or sharing eye makeup with others
• have an underlying health condition like blepharitis, rosacea, dermatitis or diabetes
• use digital devices for long periods of time - blinking tends to slow and bacteria can stagnate on the lashes.  Learn about blinking exercises here to help keep your eyes fresh while using digital devices.

What to do when you have a stye 

We will talk about both the best way to treat a stye and how to prevent them from occurring next week.  In the meantime, don’t pop it.  Do not use a pin or needle to break open the stye.  You are likely to have a bigger infection on your hands in the long run.  

CONCLUSION

Styes are a relatively common and harmless eye infection.  The incidence of this infection rose during the time of COVID-19 self-quarantine.  Styes form when bacteria get trapped inside in oil gland and cause an infection.  Styes are common in people who wear contact lenses, eye makeup or use digital devices for hours each day.  They are also more common if you have a history of styes in the past.

Stay tuned for next week where I will cover the best stye prevention and some at-home treatment tips.   For now, be sure to take your eye makeup off before bed.  Get the guide to makeup removers for sensitive eyes here.