Just the other day, I had a patient who was referred to me from a family doctor nearby with a “hordeolum”, often also referred to as a “stye”. A stye is a bump on the eyelid caused by a bacterial infection of the glands at the base of our eyelashes. The bump is usually small, red, can be tender to touch, and can cause some swelling. The stye is filled with fluid and pus.
One of the main treatments for a stye is the application of warm compresses 2-3 times per day. Taking a clean face cloth, running it under hot water, wringing it out, then placing it over the eyes for 5 minutes can be very inconvenient. There are only so many clean face clothes we have in our linen closet and often times the towel doesn’t stay hot for more than 2-3 minutes. My patient was so happy when I told her there is a much easier solution for her. We now carry Bruder microwave activated heat compresses. It’s and eye mask that contains small beads. Put the mask in the microwave for 20 seconds and enjoy the warm compress for 5 minutes. Did I mention it’s also washable, reusable, and hypo-allergenic?
