Effective Natural Remedies for Chalazion

My daughter has been having chronic chalazion since she was 5. She has had 2 surgeries under GA. 3 years on she started having another just 2 weeks ago. It grew so large that we could see the pus from the surface of her upper eye lid. But we were not keen to go down the surgical route. A church friend strongly recommended frankincense oil and a night after applying it on her head n neat on the chalazion, it popped and pus oozed out. We kept up w the frankincense application and it's reduced to less than half of it's original size! We are amazed by the healing properties of frankincense!

This is the same way that the chalazion started with me. There was a year that I was crying al the time. If I did not wash my face and do a couple warm compresses after crying then it would develop. I have been to several doctors and one was really good and used a tiny needle to unplug the pore/gland thing. Never take antiobotics. I have done this and it is a waste. It is most important to use a good eyelid wash, do compresses, do eye drops and see a doctor before it swells up too bad for them to remove it.

While this is not a natural cure, I can attest that it absolutely works. I suffered from a chalazion for over 4 months & had basically tried every single treatment to fix it that I could possibly find on the internet with no avail. I came across a tube of Fluocinonide .5mg in my drawer when looking for something else, it is a steroid cream. I put a Tiny dab of that cream on the chalazion with a clean Q-tip three times a day and I also used over the counter dry eye drops 3 to 5 times a day. The giant chalazion was gone in less than two weeks. I was thrilled to call the eye dr and cancel the surgery.

Just to give a heads up. Omega 3 and vitamin A(tablet) worked for me. Chalazion is gone!

I also want to add that I thought the epsom salt mixture was going to burn real bad. To my surprise it didn't hurt at all.

I've had styes before which responds well to warm compresses, washed with mild soap. However the swollen area on my eyelid didn't respond well this time. My whole lower lid was swollen and itchy and warm as it is when a stye begins. I noticed an oil duct on my lower lid was not expelling oil as all the others were when I was pressing it. Then after a few days the swelling subsided and there was a small- med lump inside my lower eyelid. I could not see where there was any opening, besides the oil duct opening along my eyelid. That lump began to grow slowly. At first warm compresses helped to loosen it up a little. And I began to push on it and tried to squeeze it. I didn't do them religiously and the lump began to harden over time (a few weeks) and left what looked like a permanent stye. I was walking around with this for months.

By this time the warm compresses did not help anymore bc it had hardened. Then I did some research and learned that Epsom salt mixed with water, a ratio of half and half worked well. Tried it, and saw immediate results that same night. I read online that someone's chalazion came to a head and broke open under their eyelid as they applied the epson salt mixture. I kept having discard in that eye during the treatment, so I opened up the lower lid and saw that the chalazion had came to a head and a string of white exudate and oil was coming out of it. The epsom salt was drawing all the oil and fluids out.

Now I realized that this is the process of osmosis I learned in physiology and chemistry. Fluids or molecules from a less concentrated state will always pass through a permeable membrane into a more concentrated one. I was so relieved. I could see instant results as I pushed and same more of it come out, and the gradually decreasing size of the chalazion. But I don't think pushing on it is a good thing, because it can create more inflammation and cause the chalazion opening to swell and close like a zit. I pushed on this same chalazion when it first started months ago while I was doing hot water compresses, and after that it just sealed up. After seeing this, I just applied more compresses of the mixture and it was completely gone in two -three days. There is still a tiny small lump inside my lid, too small to be visible, but I think it's because all the tissues were stretched so much by the chalazion that it left a small space/cavity.

Take half a cup of Epson salt and add half of cup of boiling water. Mix and pour into another cup and sit down on the sofa. Test the water. You want it to be hot enough to place on your face without burning it. Take a face towel and dip it into the cup, wring out a little of the solution, but you want it to be wet and a little dripping so that the solution can actually soak into your eyes. Press this hot towel to your affected eye and let it seep in. Hold for 3-5 minutes. Repeat again and change water when it gets cold. Do this a few times throughout the day. I got lazy so I only did it twice a day or so.

Hopefully this helps.

My chalazion is 5 days old now. I had a stye for a week before it developed into a chalazion. I started using ACV, it's day 2 for me. My chalazion is on my upper eyelid, but below the lid. I can see it forming a head when I lift my lid to check. I am currently applying the ACV compress over my closed eye, but since the chalazion is on the inner lid, will it work? How long will it take to open up? what should I expect?? Please help!

Dear Terri,

Frankincense essential oil is pretty gentle and I use it straight at times, but not near the eye area. Using near the eye I would dilute with a carrier oil. Maybe 1:5? Maybe less. Even diluted, I would try a small amount and make sure it isn't irritating the eye, and then dilute more if needed.

~Mama to Many~

Do you dilute the essential oil will a carrier oil, or did you apply it full strength?

i had an chalazion on my upper eyelid almost 10 yrs ...i had gone for 8x surgery and biopsy but till now it uncured.....

My chalazion began when I returned from a camping trip and realized my upper eyelid was red and swollen. I had some antibiotic eyedrops left over from a bout with pink eye that I used a couple times daily. The swelling and redness went away after a few days and I thought all was well... but noticed I could now feel a tiny bump on my upper eyelid if I touched it with my finger. It wasn't visible and it didn't hurt, so I just ignored it.

Two months went by and the tiny bump that seemed dormant the whole time suddenly started growing, and my eyelid again became red and a bit swollen. I found earth clinic and decided to try applying apple cider vinegar (which I heated up in the microwave, soaked up with a cotton ball and pressed to my eyelid for 5 minutes a few times a day). I didnt have "with the mother" ACV so I used some western family 5% acidity ACV. After day 3 of this, MY EYELID BECAME EVEN MORE RED, SWOLLEN, AND IRRITATED. And the bump seemed bigger than ever.

I immediately stopped using it and went to the doctor. The doc said I had a chalazion and I would have to see a specialist to get it lanced (they turn your eyelid inside out and cut open the chalazion to let it drain. heal time supposedly = 2 days). I decided to try some other natural cures before resorting to this, so I went out and bought the works... "with the mother" ACV, silver hydrosol (colloidal silver to drop in my eye), Activated charcoal capsules, and fankincense essential oil. I began with only using silver hydrosol drops five times daily. This seemed to take down the swelling and redness of the eyelid, but didnt do much for the bump. I proceeded to try all other above treatments, as well as FINALLY trying a warm moist compress 3 times daily. THE WARM MOIST COMPRESS REALLY SHOWED RESULTS!!!

Heres what I did that really seemed to work...

BOIL AN EGG- this acts to retain the heat for the warm (more like hot) compress

WRAP IN A COTTON SHIRT- you may want to fold over a couple layers of material, then take away layers as the egg cools off so the contact is always nice and hot (don't burn yourself, but you want it to be as hot as seems reasonable)

DIP THE SHIRT COVERED EGG IN THE HOT WATER- to get it moist, the steamy warmth feels great on your eye and I'm convinced helps.

APPLY TO YOUR EYELID- I would kinda push the bump around with the egg while I did this, to kinda massage it and stimulate it.

REPEAT AS OFTEN AS YOU CAN

I did this 3 times daily and immediately after would rub some frankincense oil on the eyelid. On the third day I could really feel the bump on the inside of my eyelid, like the skin was hardening and becoming slightly more abrasive on my eyeball. It literally felt like it was about to pop from the inside! The next time I applied the egg compress, I swear I felt the blocked oil duct in my eyelid open up, and the chalazion felt like it had popped. I looked in the mirror and the bump (that was about the size of a small pea) was considerably smaller, and there was gunk in the corner of my eye that easily wiped away. Over the next 2 days my eyelid felt much better, and I continued applying the egg compress, each time getting more gunk out of my eye and the bump becoming smaller and smaller until it was gone!

I really encourage anyone suffering from a chalazion to be persistent with the egg compress, I think off all the treatments out there this is the one that really produces some real results!!!

To all suffering from the Chalazion or sty on the eye. My younger brother got these frequently and my Mother would grate the skin of a green apple into a white 100% cotton kerchief or cut T-Shirt. She would put the cotton sack of green apple skin and juice on his eye. And it only took days to heal without leaving a scar. I think he sat for at least an hour with it on his eye.

Hi. I have had a chalazion for more than 3 weeks and I went to the walking center and they didn't give me anything. I am trying the heat compresser but nothing; what am I supposed to do?

I'd like to recommend Skinoren - 20% Azelaic acid- instead of ACV. This is naturally occuring but expect it's synthesised in the cream. I had great success with it for treating rosacea on nose and eyes over a few months it went from quite bad to almost gone.

Currently I also noticing improvement on a chalazion after 4 days (top of eyelid only), while also using hot compresses. That's after around 4 weeks of just getting worse or no change.

Much less harsh and stingy than the ACV also.

Gonna offer my 3 ex doctors 3 bottles of ACV when this treatment is done.

- Day 2: 50% less chalazion size.

Hi everyone, I just want to share what really worked for me. I have been suffering from chalazion for about 2 months now, I have tried apple cider vinegar, hot compress, salt solutions, antibiotic eye ointment, but none of them seemed to really help me. I was feeling quite down that it wasn't getting any better, so I started praying, and God answered my prayer when I stumbled upon essential oils. I read online, and saw other had good results with frankincense essential oil. I have only started using fankincense essential oil 2 days ago, and my chazalion is improving and decreasing in size. I use the oil 2-3 times a day on my eye area. but I think the one at native american nutritionals has some good reviews as well. Just want to thank God for answering my prayer and I pray that everyone who suffers from chalazion will have full recovery!

Hi I was wondering where I could buy this activated charcoal from? I've had my chalazion for about 8 months and it doesn't seem to be going.

Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful knowledge. I hope to apply it for my husband. I love Ayurveda!

Hi, thanks for the site, I have a chalazion for 4 months now, it started small but steadly growing. eye drop given by doctor is milflox PLUS(0.4) How much time will take to cure?

Hi Tony, how is your chalazion using Oil fish? is it gone? I got chalazion for less than a year and tried almost most of the remedies here, as well Omega 3 (oilfish), chalazion got smaller, but still exists. How is your result?

Thank you, Maria

I had a large Chalazion that required a lot of effort to get it to heal naturally. It started off looking like a small sty 6 weeks ago, but eventually looked like I had a very large pea under my top eyelid. It was extremely embarrassing.

After seeing my opthalmologist and searching all over the internet for natural remedies for Chalazia, I tried many of the recommendations. Then 3 weeks ago I discovered a combination of remedies that worked wonderfully for me. As of today, the Chalazion appears to be completeley gone!!! If I press on the eyelid I do still feel a tiny bump. So, I'm going to continue with my treatment until the bump is gone.

I thought I would share the treatment that has been working for me in case there are other people who are also suffering with a particularly nasty and stubborn Chalazion.

I should admit... I had to be EXTREMELY patient with my body as it took lots of time to heal from this cyst. And my vanity was surely tested especially at the very beginning of this whole process. When I woke up each morning, my eyelid looked a little better, but after each treatment it temporarily looked a little red and swollen again. This was a very frustrating, but necessary part of the early healing process. The healing was not very noticeable on a day-to-day basis. I had to eventually stop focusing on my eye and stop looking at it several times a day in the mirror and just trust that the treatment was working. Only then did I see that it was absolutely healing. There was noticeable healing from week-to-week. I also asked a few friends and close family members to help me pray for a complete recovery. It was very comforting to know that they were supporting me during this very challenging time.

DAYTIME TREATMENT:
Do this at least once a day (ex: after you wake up).
For best results, do it several times per day whenever possible.

1. Wash eyelid well with a small amount of Baby Shampoo.

2. Boil tap water in a small bowl.

3. Dip one end of a small Gel Eye Compress into the bowl for a couple of minutes to allow it to heat up.

4. Gently put the heated end of the eye compress over the lid applying a little pressure or massaging motion. Keep the compress on until it starts to cool off.

Repeat steps 3 & 4 until water in the bowl is no longer hot enough to heat up the compress.

5. Fill a small coffee cup half full with filtered water. Microwave to heat the water (~15-30 seconds).

6. Add Coarse Sea Salt to make the water salty and stir to dissolve and mix thoroughly.

7. Spoon a small amount of the salt water onto your hand to check the temperature. It should be very warm, but not scalding hot.

8. Spoon enough of the salt water into a Sterile Eye Cup to fill it to the brim.

9. Lean your head forward over a sink and hold the eye cup straight up to your open eye so that your eye is submerged in the very warm water. Keep your eye wide open and roll your eye all around in the water for 1 minute.

10. Dump out the remaining water from the eye cup. Rinse your eyelid gently with tap water.

11. Shake an unrefrigerated bottle of Apple Cider Vinegar (with the 'Mother') to mix the contents thoroughly. Open the bottle, and place a clean Cotton Cosmetic Pad over the opening and tip it over gently to pour a small amount of vinegar onto the pad.

12. Wipe the affected area of the lid with the pad several times.

Now, you can continue with your morning routine: washing your face as usual, showering, etc.

If you usually wear eye makeup, you should ideally wear minimal eye makeup until your eyelid is completely healed. I've only been wearing a little eyeliner and no eyeshadow.

TREATMENT BEFORE BED:

Repeat steps 1-12.

13. Wash your face as usual. Pat it dry with a towel.

14. Pour a small amount of Castor Oil onto your fingertips and massage it over the eyelid.

15. Take one capsule of Oil of Oregano with a glass of water.

If you usually wear moisturizer at night, you can continue with that routine. Just don't put any additional moisturizer on the affected eye.

To treat a chalazion, I opened up an activated charcoal capsule, mixed with hot water, put on bump left for 30 seconds or so, washed off with baby shampoo and hot cloth. Noticed a big difference immediately. I thought to do this because it works with my white head zits, so thought to give it a try. After a few days, the bump was almost entirely gone. Someone else on this page mentioned a charcoal poultice too. Charcoal is known to absorb toxins, 5 times its own weight.

Eye chalazions: I been having this problem for a couple of years but there not inside my eye I have them outside of my eye. I have tried hot compresses and no results I've even popped them and they come right back..

When my father died, my mother, who had been married to him for 52 years cried non-stop. Eventually, she started getting chalazions in her eye. Little bumps inside her eyelids formed and got bigger and this scared her to death. They would also sometimes move from one eye to another. She went to a medical doctor. He just told her to put warm compresses on it. She went to 2 more doctors and they said the same thing. Two of them said it would be surgically removed in a few months if it didn't go away after using a hot compress. My mother was desperate because she doesn't want anyone messing with her eyes, and as a widow who lives by herself, she's very scared about losing her eyesight or damaging her eyes. I looked on EarthClinic and advised her to both drink ACV and place ACV on a cotton and cleanse her eyes, especially her tear ducts. Within days, it was gone. This was amazing to her because ACV did in just a few days what the medical doctors should have advised but didn't. Fast forward to today, and my mother said she was crying again over the last month, and problems with her eyes came back again. She used the ACV immediately, and the problem went away. (Not completely yet, but she will continue to use it until it completely goes away.)

Hi all, after reading so many stories with positive results of having used the apple cider vinegar, I decided to give it a try myself. Perhaps I'm exaggerating with the quantity of ACV I put on the cotton ball, but I notice the skin of my eyelid having a darker color, almost as if it's being "burned" or irritated by the vinegar. Was this normal for some of you as well? Also, would you recommend putting the ACV directly on the chalazion (i.e. on the underside of the eyelid where the chalazion actually is)? Thanks for any help you can offer, I love this forum!

Hi I don't usually take time out to write reviews but I felt I had to in this case.

I have suffered from chalazions in the past and as a teacher, my students are relentless in reminding me of my massive red, wok eye. Last time it occurred it stuck around for a month and a half before I bit the bullet and went to the doctors. He found it quite amusing and prescribed two different types of eye drops. They didn't work. It took almost 3 months for the redness to go away.

A few weeks ago I could feel another one coming on and sure enough within three days my eye was massive and painful. At this point I hit the panic button as My brother is getting married very soon and I am the best man. I found this website and after reading all the comments about apple cider vinegar, I went to war the next day.

As directed each morning I drank two teaspoons of apple cider vinegar (organic with the mother) I then used a hot compress with apple cider vinegar on in at least five times a day. I also used a Q tip to dab some vinegar directly on the inner eye lid. Did this sting? yes. Was it necessary? Jury is still out. As well as this I bought a bottle of colloidal silver and sprayed a few drops in to the eye and my mouth each morning.

Well, after three days I could see the difference and within a week the redness was gone. It really worked!

I still have a tiny bump under the eye lid but hopefully that will go away in good time

My eyedoctor told me to wash my eyelids with baby shampoo every so often--I haven't had a stye or chalazion since.

I had a chalazion a couple years ago. I never had one before and I went to my doctor 2 times and 2 different specialist. The first time I went to the doctor, I was told that I had a stye. The doctor told me that it would go away on its own, but prescribed some antibiotics and told me to take it until the bottle was empty. Of course any doctor will say to keep a warm compress on the eye. I put a warm compress on the eye constantly during this time frame and my eye would look like it was going down, but the next morning it looked swollen again and my eyelashes would be sealed shut. I went back to the doctor and we decided to lance the chalazion. The doctor flipped my eyelid and gave me a shot to numb the eyelid, but it didn't work. I felt the entire procedure. I had to wear an eye patch for a day. When I took the patch off, my eye was still swolen. It eventually went down and then I got a chalazion in my other eye.

I decided to go to my optometrist next. The doctor told me that the stye would go away on its own with warm compresses. I told him that I had been using the compresses and it didn't seem like it was working, not to mention that I hated getting up every few minutes to warm the compress so that I could keep holding it on my eye. The doctor prescribed me some eye drops. I used the drops, but this did not work.

I went to a specialist and he reiterated what the other doctors said, but he gave some good information. He told me that I didn't have a stye, but a chalazion. He told me that we could remove my glands, but my chalazion wasn't big and this was the first time I had it so he said that would be extreme. This doctor gave me a prescription for a different antibiotic. I took those pills until I came across a post about apple cider vinegar. I didn't dilute mine. I used a little ACV on a cotton ball and just swiped my eyelid a couple times a day. This burns a little bit, but it's not bad. Within a few days, the chalazion was gone. I haven't had any more problems and I wish I would have tried this to begin with. Although I have insurance, I still paid nearly $300 for 4 doctor visits and 4 prescriptions, not to mention going through a painful procedure where I felt everything. The ACV works!

Update:

Sorry, I hadn't checked back. The chalazion went away within days. I could notice a difference within 2 days. I haven't had one since 2012 when I posted my first response. The doctors told me my chalazion wasn't that bad, but one of my eyes looked swollen and I did not like walking around with one of my eyes lower than the other. Like I said before, I went to 3 doctors, 4 doctors visits, 4 prescriptions and even had my chalazion lanced and the only thing that worked was the apple cider vinegar. First, I used an eye wash. You can buy this at the drug store. It comes with an eye cup. You fill the eye cup to the line and bend your head down so that the cup is on your eye. Raise your head back holding the eye cup and roll your eye around in the wash for a few seconds. After that I used OcuSoft lid scrub. The ophthalmologist I saw gave me samples of these and I really like them. They are good for fast eye make-up removal as well. The pads come in a box individually wrapped and they are textured and pre-moistened. They cost about $10 for a box of 30. You just scrub the eye for a few seconds and rinse. This is also good for people with irritated or itchy eyes. After that, I put a small amount of ACV on the cotton ball and just swiped my eyelid. I did this routine in the morning and at night. I even continued doing it after the chalazion went away because I was scared it would come back, but no issues. There was no trace of my chalazion within a week and I noticed the difference within 2 days. Save yourself some money. Warm compresses were a waste of time for me. It didn't work. I used the compresses and I tried tea bags and heating up a gel eye mask and this just didn't work for me.

I have a large chalazion under my lower eyelid. People are suggesting putting apple cider vinegar. Do I put it directly on the Chalazion or just on my under my eye? Please respond I do not know what to do.

Dear Jaweria,

I am not Julie and she has not seemed to be back to Earth Clinic for some time. I do not know the name of the drops.

I do know a couple of things that you could try. Activated charcoal has been used before to help this condition.

http://www.charcoalremedies.com/chalazion

Here is how to make a charcoal poultice, about half way down the page:

https://www.earthclinic.com/remedies/charcoal2.html#poultice

You can also try chamomile tea bags. Pour hot water over tea bags to moisten. When cooled to a comfortable temperature, apply to each eye for 5-10 minutes 2-4 times a day.

Let us know how it goes!

~Mama to Many~

I am from Pakistan. My daughter is having chalazion in both eyes, and in spite of doing all measures and antibiotics no change is found, please, Julie can you tell me more about the allergy drops specially the generic name of the medicine. I will be thankful to you......Jaweria

Thanks for the advice re Vinegar. This is my first Chalazion and I was getting worried from internet info that it would last weeks. Tea bag compresses didn't help.

After reading your posts, I went to the larder but could only find some Japanese Rice Vinegar. So I figured, maybe .... and dabbed it on the bump, rubbing it lightly with a cotton bud. Almost instantly it opened and the yellow gunk started flowing out. After that, a little blood smear and now it's just an empty swelling. Hope it will be gone by morning.

My 4 year old has regular chalazions. I notice that he is more likely to get them when he eats or drinks certain milk products. What I do now, is give him probiotics when I give him milk products. I also give him fermented cod-liver oil daily. These two combined has really helped him.

When he has an actual chalazion, I give him colodial silver and a children's echinacea for his immune system. This has helped decrease the time that the chalazion stays on his eye.

Thank you so much for taking the time to write about your remedy. We will be trying it ourselves; we have no confidence in the medical practitioners here in the UK and always try to find a home/natural remedy. We take full responsibility for the outcome!People who share this knowledge are as friends :)

Wishing you happiness and good health. From Holly in Kent England.

Personally I would not put ACV into her eye. Hot or warm compressors of water will help to hasten healing. It will heal itself if left alone. You could apply a warm compress while she is asleep.

Hi, my daughter currently has a chalazion, she is four years old. I'm aware of the healing benefits of ACV, I have some here at home, but I'm weary of using it on her eyes. She wouldn't stand a HOT cotton ball on her eye. Does it need to be hot, or is warm alright? Also, how long is the cotton ball/ACV left on the chalazion and should the ACV be rinsed off the eye afterwards?

I should probably do it while she is sleeping, but I'm wondering if just the once per night is enough to get rid of the chalazion.

Hello All- I have had chalazion a couple of times 8 months ago I actually had surgery to remove one on each eye. If you have had them for a while and they start to harden and form a shell over them, then it's to late for hot compress surgery is the only way. I was happy with my surgery, I have a tiny red scar but beats to big red bumps on my eyes. I currently have a chazalion on my lower left eyelid. Went to the doc to confirm and yes she said one is forming. I caught it early so warm compress has helped some but it has only been 3 days since I got my chalazion. You have to get very warm water. I warm up in microwave till nearly boiling and redip every 2 to 3 minutes for a total of 10 minutes. You are suppose to this 7-8 times a day, I know it sucks!! After you compress first thing in the morning grab some baby soap and put a dab on your finger and rub in where the chalazion is forming, repeat after your last compress at night. This will take some time but is really the only way. Trust me I looked for the fastest way possible and there is no such thing. Slow and steady wins the race. I would also suggest artificial tears to help with dryness... GOOD LUCK

Does anyone have experience in using milk compresses for a chalazion?

For me I was diagnosed on Monday, and cured by Friday: I stayed in for a few days so as to have constant access to a kettle for the very hot water, and just took it easy, applying the hot apple cider vinegar compresses at least 3 times a day, cutting out sugar, and drinking Apple Cider Vinegar in water (amount specified in the post above), plus the hot tea bags directly over the lid for 2-3 minutes at a time. Keen to hear if this works for anyone else.

For chalazions: Boil an egg then wrap in a clean dry wash towel while the egg it still hot. Place the towel on eye with the chalazion for 15mins a day. Guarantee the chalazion will be gone completely within a week.. It worked for me and others.