Have you had a chalazion that has waxed and waned, grown and then got smaller but just has not gone away entirely over weeks or months? If so, then you probably need to have that chalazion incised and curetted from beneath the eyelid under local anaesthetic to get rid of it once and for all.
Incision and curettage, known as I&C is an outpatient procedure done by the ophthalmologists at Clinica London, we offer a one-stop treatment package for patients, where they come along on the day and see one of our award-winning consultants, for assessment, I&C and go home.
The assessment is to confirm that the lump is a chalazion and to make sure that you have good vision and can tolerate wearing an eye patch for 24 hours after the procedure. In other words, we need to know that the vision in your other eye is good and we also want to check that the chalazion is at the right stage of its development to respond well to surgery.
Once we have decided to perform incision and curettage on your chalazion at the surgery, we ask you to sign a consent form. In the form, we explain the pros and cons of the procedure, and the possible side-effects, such as bruising and swelling for the first 48 hours afterwards. Then we go into the minor treatment room and, under a gentle local anaesthetic with drops and infiltration, we remove the chalazia from beneath the eyelid.
We do not use stitches and, although we evert (turn outwards) the eyelid in order to remove the chalazion, it is quickly put back into its usual position. We then put the eye pad on – and you have no chalazion; it is gone, usually forever. If the chalazion has drained fully, because it was at the right stage of development, then it is highly unlikely that you will get that chalazion back in the same place.
However, you may still be at risk of developing chalazia from other meibomian glands that may become blocked. So as part of the one-stop chalazia treatment, we ensure that you go away with lots of information about blepharitis, which is the underlying cause of the chalazia blocked duct.
We will advise you on how you can treat blepharitis at home and tell you about the additional treatments we can provide here at the clinic. These include BlephEx, which is a device that enables you to do a deep clean of your eyelashes, and MiBo ThermoFlo, which involves heating and cleaning the eyelids.
If you are considering Chalazion treatment you can see our prices for treatment and consultation.
Telephone: 020 7935 7990
International Callers : +44 20 7935 7990