Chalazion Treatment

Treatment

An inflamed chalazion may eventually settle with regular application of antibiotic ointment onto the eyelid margin for two to three weeks (sometimes longer) and hot compresses or hot wooden spoon bathing (the heat and massage significantly reduce the inflammation).

If the chalazion persists after medical treatment, surgical treatment is necessary. The surgical treatment of a chalazion is known as “incision and curettage” (I+C), and is performed under local anaesthetic. The procedure involves making an opening in the cyst, cleaning the contents out and resecting a small section of the cyst wall. First, the skin is cleaned. A drop of local anaesthetic is applied onto the eye surface and then further local anaesthetic is injected into the skin above the chalazion.

A small clamp is put in place and the eyelid is everted (some pressure or pulling may be felt, but no pain). A blade is used to incise the chalazion from the underside of the eyelid. In rare cases, a small incision on the outer eyelid may be necessary.

Old inflammatory debris is drained from the cyst and the cavity is curetted. This results in an empty, clean meibomian duct after surgery.

After the incision and curettage procedure, the eyelid is padded with antibiotic ointment for up to 24 hours, with a regimen of ointment application for between five and ten days after surgery.