Natural Remedies for Styes: Fast Relief and Healing

Baby Shampoo

Posted by Moses5 (Rochester, NH, USA) on 12/15/2008
★★★★★

Editor's Choice

Baby shampoo will cure a sty in no time. Look closely at the infected eyelash and you will see a waxy substance at the hair line. Take a Q-tip dipped in baby shampoo and simply wipe along the infected eyelash wiping at the waxy substance. The sty will not break, but will discharge the infection back out of the eyelash. The baby shampoo will not burn your eyes and cleaning both eyelids, with shampoo and water, will make yours eyes feel great. I cannot remember where I found this remedy but wanted to share.

Tea

Posted by Candice (Victorville, CA) on 11/26/2008
★★★★★

Stye (I think that this might have an E but Im not sure)

I had a stye about a month ago and I tried putting tea on the stye. Within a couple of hours it was almost gone. I had read that tea helps with swelling so I gave it a try. I simply put a tea bag in warm water for about 1 minute and then poured out all of the water let it cool a bit (you want it to be warm but not too warm to touch) then use a couple of Qtips to soak up some of the tea (by depressing the Qtip on the warm tea bag) make sure it isnt too hot and place the Qtip with the tea on it directly onto the stye. And within a couple of hours it should feel better. I dont think that the type of tea matters but I did use a Green Tea baggie.

Gold Wedding Band

Posted by Christine (Clifton, NJ) on 10/22/2008
★★★★★

I rubbed my 14 carat white gold ring on my sty (gently!) A couple of times in one day- it's gone! One day later! Amazing !!!!! I love this site!

Urine

Posted by Phil (Portland, Oregon) on 09/01/2008
★★★★★

To relieve pressure from a sty within a short time (less than 4 hours). Place a small amount of your first urine discharged of the day into a small glass. Drip a Q-tip in the urine and place Q-tip on the sty. You will feel relief in 3o minutes and decrease of sty swelling with in 4 hours. Label glass and cover with Saran wrap and reapply in the afternoon if swelling and pain continues. Done this trick with great sucess through out my 56 years on planet earth.

Gold Wedding Band

Posted by Carolyn (Abilene, Texas) on 08/22/2008
★★★★★

I suffered greatly from stys when I was a child in the 50s. People didn't go to doctors then like they do now, you just got over it. I learned to tell my mother as soon as I felt a sty coming, and she would remove her gold wedding ring then rub it across the sty. Relief from pain was immediate and the sty healed quickly. I use this same remedy on my grandchildren. Mom said the ring had to be at least 14K to work properly, and I usually rub their sty a few times throughout day for good measure.

Gold Wedding Band

Posted by Anne (Boston, MA) on 06/20/2008
★★★★★

I've had a sty for longer than I care to admit to. I was about to try the potato remedy, but then thought, "Why not give the gold ring a try?" I used a thick, 14k gold ring... and almost immediately, I noticed a difference! It's not completely gone, it could be in the process of still healing, but at least it's not noticeable anymore!

Lavender Oil

Posted by Barbara D. (Idaho) on 04/04/2024
★★★★★

I just want to concur..lavender oil stopped my stye from getting out of control! As soon as I figured out that a stye was forming I flushed it out with an eyewash in an eyecup. Then I put colloidal silver in my eye several times that day. The next day the stye was bigger, so I read on this site to use lavender oil. Yikes it stung! ..but the next day it had shrunk. I did the lavender oil one more time that day and the next day..GONE. Two days total, amazing.

Baking Soda

Posted by Teena (Melbourne) on 06/02/2020
★★★★★

My son's latest sty on his eye I treated with one application of baking soda (bicarb soda) paste. It is soothing which is a lovely bonus. 15 minutes held on his eye, by the next morning, about 24 hours, it was gone

Apple Cider Vinegar

Posted by Beatrice (Pasadena, CA) on 06/23/2024

Hi Julie,

How often do you do this when you have a stye?

Milk

Posted by Freda (Riverdale, Ga) on 09/12/2016
★★★★★

Milk for a Stye

Thanks so much! This is the best my eye has felt in the last two days the itching, the swelling, and pain subsided with in minutes. I can barely even tell it's there anymore.

Chamomile

Posted by Mama To Many (Tennessee, Usa) on 04/15/2016
★★★★★

My daughter had a painful sty in her eye a few days ago. I used to get them when I was a girl and remember how uncomfortable they can be.

At night before my daughter went to bed, I poured hot water over a tea bag and let it sit for a few minutes. (Just enough to cover the tea bag) I squeezed out the tea bag so it was just damp and warm (body temperature.) I placed the tea bag on the closed eye that had a sty. I put a piece of plastic wrap over the tea bag (so it would stay moist longer) and attached all of that to her head with a bandana. She went to sleep. The next day when she woke up it was almost completely better and with no more pain.

I love chamomile for its many applications. It is gentle but powerful. It is great for infections, inflammation, and especially for eye issues. Plus it makes a tasty and relaxing tea before bed. If you keep a box of chamomile tea in the pantry you will have a box of ready to use medicine for a number of health issues. (Chamomile should not be used, however, if you have a ragweed allergy.)

~Mama to Many~

Baby Shampoo

Posted by Barbara (Aiken, South Carolina) on 01/09/2017 23 posts

Are you using a branded baby shampoo? It likely contains chemicals like sodium lauryl sulfate. That could cause irritation. Major brand baby shampoo is not safe for anything.

Earl Grey Tea, Turmeric

Posted by Karen (Lethbridge, Alberta) on 07/10/2014
★★★★★

Woke up this morning with my eye almost completely closed from a painful sty I developed yesterday, it is allergy season and my eyes are very sensitive. I looked on EC for cures and also talked to my mom, who used to get sty's often. I read about the anti-inflammatory effects of turmeric and my mom said tea works well too. So I made myself a morning cuppa and used the spent tea bag to nurse my poor dilapidated eye. Here's the method:

Boil enough water for a cup of tea
Place 1 earl grey tea bag in cup
pour boiling water over bag
steep 3 minutes
remove tea bag and let cool (without squeezing the water out)
rub some ground turmeric on the wet bag
place bag on eye for 60 minutes
add cream and sugar (or honey) to tea
lay back and relax

enjoy :)

So after 20 minutes I checked my eye and shock and awe, the swelling went down considerably but there was still a bump right over the little pimple, I decided to leave it on for another 20 minutes. After that time elapsed I checked again and the sty was almost gone but still a very small bit of swelling remained on the outside of my eyelid which I hadn't noticed was swollen because of how severe the swelling was when I woke up! Another 20 minutes and my eye is darn near perfect! Definitely worth the 60 minute rest and the nice cuppa tea. I hope this helps others as it has myself, what a relief. Oh also I took 1 tsp turmeric powder orally as well to stave off any inflammation that may brew up over the course of the day.

Copaiba Oil

Posted by Hannah (Singapore) on 01/27/2013
★★★★★

My 2yr old son had stye more than a month. After 2 weeks of using the anti inflamation cream prescribed by doctor, the stye was still there and got worse and bigger. So I decided to read up on which essential oil to use.

I found Copaiba essential oil to be suitable for skin and decided to apply 1 or 2 drops on the cotton bud and applied on the stye. The next day after the 1st application (at night), the stye got smaller. By the 3rd application, the stye became very small and disappearing. I was so amazed by the effectiveness and how cheap Copaiba essential oil cost, $3. 50 for 1oz.

Gold Wedding Band

Posted by Bunny (Ontario, Ca) on 07/24/2012
★★★★★

My husband had the beginnings of a sty a few years ago and we just took a 14 K ring cleaned it and rubbed it on the sty about 3 times a day (just wiped it across about 15 times)and it went away without getting really large. Such a simple thing to do and it saved him alot of pain.

Multiple Remedies

Posted by Milady (Ann Arbor, Michigan) on 06/03/2012
★★★★★

"I'm not usually a blogger - but feel it necessary to write about my positive experiences with clearing a sty in 24 hours". Thank you so much EC. I read all the blogs on how to get rid of sty a on fixed income and no health insurance. So here goes... It was about the size of a peppercorn in the left eye and was hurting really bad. I rubbed with my gold ring-14k for about 5 minutes while sitting on a toilet. In the afternoon the sty size went somewhat down. I drank regular tea and placed a teabag on the eye. The swelling came back to bigger size... Then I applied baby bath wash with a qtip in the evening. I showered at night and felt it open up with steam, I put pressure on it lightly and felt stringy mucous come out. I applied the baby wash again before going to bed. I let it stay overnight. In the morning I washed my face, the sty bump was gone. It was flat. I applied Aloe Vera gel from Trader Joes ($2. 99) on sty area. This afternoon my son comments when he saw my face, "what did you do... How did you get rid of it. " Thank you again, it is gone n 24 hours!!!!!!

Baby Shampoo

Posted by Darcie (Burlington , Vt) on 04/06/2012
★★★★★

Yes, baby shampoo is very affective at alleviating styes quickly. I tried two applications- yesterday afternoon and evening, on a under-the-lower-eyelid sty. First I used a cotton swab with a drop on the end to target the sty directly. It stung slightly and my eye teared up a bit. Before bed, I washed my afflicted eye with the baby shampoo in the shower, which seemed like the gentler and better method. This morning my sty is almost gone, along with the discomfort and swelling. Remarkable! Does anyone know why this works?