Effective Natural Remedies for Chalazion

Chalazion treatment:

ACV did not work (made things worse). Switched to castor oil and compresses - this cleared everything in two days.

Cheers, Steve

I had same issue as Tron below. All of a sudden monster chalazions in eyes. Doctors said they were just styes. Found info on démodex and read many papers about what works against them.

Hope this helps others:

• One ounce tin
• vaseline - this will cover and drown them
• 4 drops tea tree oil
• 4 drop lavender oil
• Melt Vaseline add essential oils and stir well.
• Pour into container.
• Apply everyday and night.

With the petroleum salve with tea tree and lavender, you only need to swipe your finger and get scant amount for your lashline. You do not need to goop up! If you have applied too much wipe off with a tissue.

Make sure you use different hands, tissues, wipes for each eye you do not want to transfer the little bugs over to another eye.

Sulphur soap is helpful as demodex hate the smell BUT it will dry your face out. You can buy it on Amazon.

Additionally helpful to me was to use Desert Essence Organics Lemon Tea Tree Shampoo - you can take the cap off and add additional tea tree and lavender oil. Wash your hair and face. This shampoo is for oily hair so it can be drying to hair and face.

Wash your bedding in detergent and borax in HOT water. Your pillow case wash as much as humanly possible and use HOT heat.

Buy unscented babywipes for your eyes. Amazon Basics or Costco.

Throw out your eye makeup and do not wear any until condition clears or you will make it worse.

My doctor didn't even know about these things or my ophthalmologist!

Had a HUGE stye that turned into a chalazion and I was going at it hard with the hot compresses (4-5 times a day, at least 15 minutes at a time). This only made it get bigger. One thing to keep in mind is that heat increases sebum (oil) production in hair follicles, including the follicles of lashes. This can cause the follicles near the chalazion to clog up and impede drainage.

There's a good chance my follicles were already clogged by the huge stye my chalazion started out as. The excessive heat didn't help matters. Anyways, I decided to lay off the heat, just applying a compress twice a day, for 10 min at morning and 10 min at night.

I use the eye mask you can put in the microwave—it stays warm and you can easily re-heat. I bought mine from an optometry clinic but you can probably find one on Amazon. Anyways, I reduced compress use to 10 minutes at morning and night, followed by gentle pressure with cu-tip against the chalazion (as well as rolling it down the cyst toward the lash line).

In between doing this, so about 5 times a day, applied Apple cider vinegar with the “mother“ using a cu-tip. Dipped q-tip in vinegar, touched it against Kleenex so it wasn't dripping wet, then rolled q-tip over cyst and massaged gently into cyst, for about a minute. Got as close to the lash line as possible without getting any in my eye.

Chalazion is gradually shrinking (took a few days to notice a difference) and the lash follicles near the chalazion that had been filling with oil are draining as well.

In addition to the vinegar it's probably important to not overdo it with the heat. Too much heat also likely causes some inflammation and swelling which will just keep the silly thing from draining or make it worse. I would suggest at least try going down to warm compress 2-3 times a day, 10 minutes at a time, and use the vinegar.

It is absolutely working for me!!

I have a massive chalazion that's been there (on the upper eyelid) for 3 months. I've tried everything (heat, massages, ACV) nothing seems to be working! It is higher up at a distance from my lash line and seems to be growing from within the eyelid-is that why the ACV application isn't working?

I tried ACV for 5 days- it just burnt my eyelid and created 2 huge red marks on my eyelid. Haven't noticed any drainage yet.

Any advice or at home remedies would be greatly appreciated!

Homeopathy (silicea & calc fluor.) for hardened, large, pea-size, long standing Chalazion

My son developed a Chalazion on his right eye (upper lid) around 10 months ago. I was very ill and depleted of all energy to function normally at the time and couldn't do much research on how to help him. I was not happy with the options typically used to "heal" these relentless chalazion: surgery, steroids, antibiotics. Once I was feeling much better a few months later I could dive into research what he needed. I found several natural remedies and most of them seemed far fetched to try on my then 3 year old son. Him putting a warm/hot wet cloth on his eye was not gonna happen especially in the recommended 4-6 times a day at 10-20 minutes each time, eye drops, etc.

In my research it seemed that getting a long standing chalazion that had hardened to soften up was the key to getting it to drain and heal was the ticket. I was researching homeopathy options since I have seen it work for so many other things in our family. After countless hours and 5 or 6 months of researching when I had time I narrowed it down to two remedies I was going to try. Silicea 6c and Calc Fluor. 6c, a dose of each (2 globules of each kind in the mouth at the same time). Silicea brings things out of the body so I was hoping it would bring the pus to the surface.The Calc. Flur has been used for long standing, hardened chalazions.

I would give him a dose morning, noon and evening. The chalazion went thru many phases of me wondering if it was getting better/smaller or not. I took photos almost every day but it was hard to compare the shape/size of it with photos taken from different angles/lighting, etc. Plus, he is 3 so getting him to stand still is challenging for a closeup of his eye. So, some days it would look shiny/red/irritated/angry and other days the redness was gone and it looked smaller. Also, the chalazion shape was changing. So, it went from "oh it looks better" to "oh, I'm not sure if it is improving" but kept going anyway.

After about 10 days from starting the remedies it started looking like a pus pocket was forming on the lower left side of the chalazion. I figured this was a good sign especially if at some point we could get it to open up and massage the junk out. The pus area kept getting bigger and now the chalazion had morphed into a rounded point on that left side where the pus pocket was. If we pressed on the chalazion it was no longer hard and it seemed like it wanted to burst and I thought eventually it would but it never did. We just kept going with the remedies. Around or just before 2 weeks after starting the remedies we could definitely tell it was getting smaller. Today marks the evening of the 16th day of using these 2 remedies and we noticed after his bath that the curve of his upper eye lid was no longer deformed, AT ALL. The chalazion had gotten so big before these remedies that it deformed the contour of his upper eye lid. Instead of it being a typical, natural arch it had a big undulating curve in it. You couldn't see his whole eye because of the deformity. BUT no more.

The arch of his eyelid looked completely normal. When he woke up on the 17th day it had shrunk so much while he slept. It was maybe 15% of it's original size. Sidenote: In the mornings I would notice the biggest change in the chalazion....Some days when I would think it looked way better in the morning by evening it would like angry. I guess my advice would be to keep going with the remedies. I will report back in a week or so with the final results.

The silica 6c and the calc fluor 6c by borion you can purchase on amazon.com or probably any online homeopathic shop.

Also, these are the other homeopathic remedies we tried that didn't work:

• Staphisagria
• Plantanus Occ.

We also tried adding flax seed oil to his diet

If my son was older I would have also would have tried the following as well....

-the charcoal/flax meal poltice pouch. using charcoal since it is a drawing agent just makes sense.

-diy eye drops with distilled water and a little manuka honey....the honey burns and I wasn't sure how many weeks I would have to use it and on a 3 year old seemed like a major challenge. I just didn't want to put him thru that. So, we didn't go that route but I would of definitely done it on myself or if he were older. Or even the optimal manuka honey eye drops.

This is very long winded but I am hope that the details will help someone.

Best of luck,

jj

I read all the posts about remedies for a chalazion, such as apple cider vinegar, castor oil, etc., and all of these are great, but I'd like to offer you a way to keep from getting them in the first place. I discovered that there is a compelling link between foods you are sensitive to and the development of a chalazion on your eye. For me, it is eggs, dairy, and anything with sulfites in it, like white wine. You will want to experiment until you find your trigger foods. I learned this concept from a total stranger, who saw me putting expensive eye drops in my eye in a public restroom, and saw my chalazion. Happily for me, she was not shy, and she approached me and asked, "Do you eat eggs?" Imagine my surprise and confusion. She told me that she recognized both the eye drops I was using and the chalazion I was treating. She said she used to get them all the time, until she learned that she was allergic to eggs. I quit eating eggs and the problem went away.

Pay attention to what time of day the problem is worse or gets better. I saw one post where the contributor noted that theirs was worst in the morning. Mine was always better in the morning, and deteriorated after breakfast: of course, since I was usually eating eggs or cereal with milk, and I have learned that both eggs and milk are triggers. The person who wrote that theirs was worst in the morning is probably eating the offending food at dinnertime or later, causing the inflammation to increase overnight.

You will want to do some careful detective work, because you can't assume that a trigger food will give you a chalazion every time: if I eat one egg by itself, I am usually still ok. What happens is that your trigger foods will prompt a chalazion to set in if you either eat the food several days in a row -- or if you are run down or stressed at the time you partake of the food. Or if you eat multiple trigger foods at the same meal. (An egg quiche washed down with white wine would give me one for sure! )

So continue with all the great ACV, castor oil, etc. that are suggested on this blog -- but try to find why you are prone to them in the first place. Food sensitivities can cause a broad array of weird health issues.

Warm regards from the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, JulieMarie

I feel the need to tell everyone about a remedy that gets rid of chalazion or stye. Everything started a year ago when I sarted having a stye that turned into chalazion, I was desperate to find an answer other then surgery, so...long story sort I came across with a video on YouTube from a makeup artist guy who also suffered from this eye problems.

He used salt water to rinse his eye, when I first saw this video I was skeptical about doing it but anyway I did it just to see if it would work, well it did worked!!! I rinse my eye with clean previously boiled water that cool down to room temperature and added sea salt to a point that I could rinse with my eye and holding the water (open eye) for 5 seconds or so, I repeated the eye rinse 4 times a day, washing my eye before each rinse with baby shampoo.

Note: (I used one of those measure cups that comes with nightquil or liquid vitamins they have 2 tbspoons maximum capacity so I used that and cleaned it very good before each use and yes I rinse with the eye open, stings just a little but I'm telling you it was like a miracle, as soon as I felt one coming I inmediately did it and it would go in 2 days. Good luck everyone!

Dear Imram,

Either way would probably work. I have used castor oil on the eyelids and right on the eyeball. Right on the eyeball will cause some temporary blurriness though. (So, I just do that at night.)

~Mama to Many~

I have to second the apple cider vinegar it actually worked. I'm based in London so I was lucky enough to get the organic Apple Cider Vinegar with the mother in a local pharmacy. I would wash my whole face and use a little baby shampoo to clean my eyes massaging it with a cotton bud too. I would then boil the kettle and let it cool a little then use a face towel edge to apply it to the Chalazion. The water was very very hot which is what is needed. I then used a cotton bud to dip it into the vinegar and rub it around my chalazion and on my lash line making sure I didn't get any in my eye. I repeated this about three times a day. I continued this for about three days the chalazion finally came to a head and I was able to pop it a little pus came out along with blood and water. I made sure I cleaned it immediately with salt and hot water. Since then it has gone so small and no longer looks like a pea under my eye!! Antibiotics Eye drops did not work; they only made the chalazion bigger and warm water didn't really work as well as the really hot water. In addition, for two days I mixed the ACV with water and drank some which I think may have helped. P.s before this routine I'd had the chalazion my eye for just under 4 months. Hope this helps.

September 2017 ......I've had a Chalazion in each eye for the past 5 months! I'm a 50 yr old night shift worker going through the menopause and have suffered with dry eyes for the past year or so. I've stopped wearing contact lenses due to dry eyes and constant styes and now Chalazions. After the doctor telling me that the NHS refuse to operate now due to cutbacks and finding out that privately it would cost in excess of ‎‎‎‎£500 for each eye with no guarantee that it would be successful or that it wouldn't return, I decided to persevere in treating this myself. I searched the internet for hours and tried a whole load of remedies. After trying pretty much everything over the space of 3 weeks nothing seemed to be shrinking the Chalazions.

The regular salt water eye washes did get rid of all redness and inflammation. The Chalazions being so hard and stubborn after having them for 5 months have taken a lot of patience and determination to get rid but I'm almost there now.

First I washed my eyes 4 times a day with baby shampoo. I got 2 socks and filled them with rice to about the size of a golf ball and tied a knot in them and microwaved for about a minute. I soaked 2 large make up remover pads in Epsom salts and boiled water 50/50. I placed the soaked pads on each eye and then held the heated rice socks on my eyes being careful not to burn eyelids. I did this for half an hour, 4 to 5 times a day. Time consuming but it works! Having the constant heat there shrinks and softens the hard Chalazions. Gently massage after for about a minute each time.

I have been doing this repeatly for about 3 days now and my Chalazions have shrunk to about one fifth in size to what they were and are almost gone. I shall continue to do this until they have totally disappeared. I reckon 2 more days of this treatment should do the trick. I wish Doctors would give this advice to sufferers because this remedy really works, which is why I'm sharing this. I don't wish these awful unsightly things on anyone. Good luck and please just persevere as I have. I promise it really does work.

My 5 year chalazion is almost gone. Nobody or I can see it anymore by looking at my eyelid. I only know it's there still by putting pressure and touching my eyelid with my finger. This is what's working for me:

I do a hot compress twice a day. One in the morning and one at night followed by putting a mixture of 1 cup water to 1 teaspoon of apple cider on my lash line with a qtip. I let that dry then I put some Similasan Stye Eye Relief Drops in my eye (you can buy on amazon or CVS/Walgreens/Walmart). I then let my eye dry from the eye drops and then proceed to put an half and half oil mixture of castor oil and tea tree oil on my lash line (don't get inside of your eye).

Do this every day twice a day and you will see results it may take a long time but my 5 year chalazion is almost gone. I've been doing this remedy for months now and it's slowly going away. Chalazions take a long time to go away especially if you've had them for over a year and it's hardened. So be patient and continue at it!

I went to the DMV recently to renew my drivers licence. It was a hot summer day in the late afternoon. The DMV was packed with sweaty people waiting for their numbers to be called. My number was finally called. I stepped up to the machine to have my eyes tested. The machine was filthy with the residual sweat and oil from hundreds of people putting their faces into the machine. I looked for a tissue or some sort of alcohol wipe of some sort but there was nothing to clean off this equipment in sight. The best I could do is wipe it down with my bare hand. I pressed my face into the machine, got my test and proceeded to have my new photo taken and left. I got in the car and used a hand sanitizer to wash my hands. The next morning I woke up with two different infections, one in each eye. I had a bump under my lower left eye lid like a small round ball, which I assumed was a chalazion, and in the right eye on the lower lid itself was a sty.

I didn't want to go to the doctor knowing that all they'd do is prescribe antibiotics, which I didn't want to take if I didn't have to. I proceeded with warm compresses 4x a day. At night and in the morning I applied Active Manuka Honey (15+) directly into both eyes with a Q-tip. I knew Manuka Honey had properties to kill the MRSA virus so figured it must have natural properties in line with antibiotics. The Manuka Honey stings and causes your eyes to water quite a bit for about 3-5min but it goes away completely after that. Also, it's not the big sticky mess you'd imagine with putting honey in your eye. At night I leave the full strength Manuka in my eyes all night long. In the morning I leave it in only while eating breakfast, but combine it with the warm compress.

I've seen increadable results, the sty went away almost immediately. The chalazion takes longer to go away. It has reduced tremendously down to the size of a small buckshot bb. The initial chalazion was even distorting my vision by the pressue it was giving to the eye itself. That has reversed. I occassionally get dry eye and they are sensitive to artifical fragrances, particularly the noxious gas given off by the ubiquitous dryer sheets people use. The Manuka Honey treatment seems to have soothed my eyes and they feel well moistened and healthier.

You can purchase Manuka Honey online or at Whole Foods. The key is to find one which has a higher "UMF rating" of 15+ or higher. Manuka Honey comes from New Zealand and is honey derived from bees that pollinate the manuka (tea tree) bush.

I wanted to post to give a thumbs up for apple cider vinegar with the "mother" to treat chalazia. My first chalazion was on my right upper lid and was there for the better part of a year. I halfheartedly tried a variety of home remedies to get rid of it when it first cropped up, but since it wasn't all that visible and I work from home so have no need to get dolled up very often, I ultimately gave up and just left it alone. One morning it was just not there anymore, which I was very happy about.

A few months later, however, another chalazion appeared, this time on the lower lid of my left eye. This one was quite visible, and not in a good way. I tried the warm compresses, etc., but nothing was happening, so I made an appt with an ophthalmologist to get confirmation it was a chalazion and to see what he suggested. He suggested warm compresses using a hard-boiled egg wrapped in a damp facecloth. The egg sort of fits nicely into the eye socket and maybe touches more of the eye or something. I made a follow-up appt for 2 wks later, and went home to start the egg compresses. Meanwhile, the doc was going to get an authorization from my insurance to lance the thing if I had no luck with the egg.

So I did the egg compress quite diligently 3-6 times a day - so diligently that I created a little burn on my face below the chalazion. Sigh. I wasn't seeing much progress, so as my follow-up appt got closer and I knew I'd be getting the thing lanced, I decided as a last resort to try apple cider vinegar on the inside of my eyelid, knowing it would burn (I've gotten ACV in my eye before by mistake), but figuring it wouldn't be any worse than a needle.

So for a few days, before I did the egg compress, I poured a tiny bit of ACV in the bottle cap and dipped a Q-tip in it, then pulled my lower lid away from my eyeball, and dabbed the Q-tip with the ACV on the inside of the lid, then waited for the burning to subside. Then I did it again if I felt brave. I also swiped the Q-tip over the bump as well. Then I'd do the warm egg compress for several minutes, and roll the egg over the chalazion in sort of a massaging motion.

A couple days of that routine, and my left eye started producing yellow gunk, which I assumed was the oil finally being released from the chalazion, and the bump started to shrink. It's not all the way gone yet, but I feel good enough about the progress I'm making that I'm going to cancel my follow-up appt and continue the ACV and egg compresses until the chalazion is completely flat.

I'm hoping the skin over the chalazion will return to it's normal color and texture at some point, because right now it's rather discolored and puffy. (And not in a good way! )

My story.

My eye was bothering me back in January and I did not know why. I never pulled my eyelid back to have a look until maybe 3-4 weeks in. That is when I saw it. It was about the size of a lentil at the time and I figured it would just go away on its own. It did not go away. So I started applying warm compresses once in a while but was lazy and did not do it often. Two weeks ago a few days before a trip to the UK it got bigger to about the size of pea and I started to worry. I looked around on the internet and found out what it was called and what caused it. Sadly, I also stumbled upon a youtube video of Chalazion surgery that freaked me out. I started using the warm compresses religiously with no effect.

While in the UK I did more research and happened upon this excellent site. Sadly, I could not find ACV with mother in the small town I was in and so I just used the filtered stuff. I honestly don't think it had much of an effect. I returned back to the states last Sunday and went straight to the health food store to buy ACV with the "mother". I also saw other remedies and my plan was to attack this little bugger from multiple angles

This was my strategy:

I drank 1 TBSP ACV diluted in 6-8 oz water each morning and evening

I heated a 1-1 ratio of ACV in the microwave (45-60 s) or used a hot kettle to mix with AVC. I also either used the hot kettle to heat a rag or wet a rag placed in coffee mug and also heated that in microwave. Just get them hot.

I dipped a cotton round in the mixture, gently closed my eye and rubbed across it 3 or 4 times to “clean it”. Then I dunked another one, placed over my eye and use the rag as a warm compress on top of it. I did this 3-4 times a day with the last one around 8p. I also used a clean cotton round to do the other eye just in case.

Before bed time I open an activated charcoal capsule and mixed with warm water to make a paste. I used a Q-tip to place the mixture on the Chalazion on the OUTSIDE of my eye and left it there for 30 minutes or so. I washed this off with baby shampoo. Hard to get off so be careful not to get in your eye. Then I applied castor oil to the Chalazion on the OUTSIDE of eye using a Q-tip. I put it on fairly thick and left it there to dry out overnight. Lady at drugstore must have thought I had some issues as charcoal and castor oil are often used for gastro problems. Next morning start again.

After just a day or so the swelling on the outside started to go down but I did not notice any change in size of the Chalazion itself

Thursday (only 4 days later) while in the airport working on my laptop my vision in that eye started to get blurry. Went to the mirror in he bathroom and saw white gunk in my eye and could see the Chalazion had a small head on it that was leaking. Gross, yes. But a relief that the method was working. I tried squeezing it softly but did not want to do it too much so I left it alone and throughout the flight I would dab eye occasionally with a clean cotton round (new one each time). Little by little more gunk was coming out.

The Chalazion is not gone yet but it is more than half the size it was and looks flatter than before. I am not giving up on the process as I want to make sure this completely goes away.

My takeaways that I hope helps other in the same boat I was in.

Be persistent and don't miss treatments.

Use as hot a compress and ACV mixture as you can stand. You don't want to burn your skin.

Try multiple remedies.

I was not a fan of putting ACV directly on the Chalazion with a Q-tip but when I wiped my eye or used the compress some ultimately made it in.

I think the ACV with mother is really necessary as I used the filtered version for 5 or 6 days with no effect.

Good luck

Do you rub it on the outside of your eyelid? Or in the inside?

I found that hot compresses 3× daily, along with application of castor oil (especially at night) quite helpful. I did go through a period where I took 2 T. of ACV daily, and applied it to the chalazion with a Q tip as well. This burned and caused the chalazion to crust and peel. I'm not sure if that was ultimately helpful.

In the end, I continued applying the castor oil to the chalazion and to the water line of my upper eyelid. Additionally, the action I believe most helpful, was the gentle pressure and washing of the eyelash area and upper water line (my chalazion was on the upper eyelid). I eventually tapered off the compressed after 1.5 months. I never thought it would go away. It was gone completely within 2.5 - 3 months. I prayed daily, and believed that the probiotic wash which I used to cleanse my upper eyelash area and the water line would heal the chalazion.

The ACV may have helped cleanse my system (I took 2T a day for a week, and the application to the chalazion, and getting it to crust may or may not have been helpful.) To this day, I continue the gentle eyelash and waterline cleansing. Nothing my doctor or opthamalogist prescribed or suggested helped. There are many probiotic washes on the market. Johnson's Baby Shampoo may be a viable option as well.

Best of luck to all of you struggling with this issue. It will go away when you find the solution that works for you. I persisted and researched weekly - with prayer! God bless all of you.

I have had success with ACV and warm compresses for chalazion. (I began using castor oil but had no success.) At first I diluted the ACV with water because some on this site said that the ACV would burn, but I had no success until I used the ACV full strength. I would apply the ACV with a cotton swab/Q-tip, being careful to not let it drip into my eye. I would apply it several times a day, always with a clean cotton swab. I also used warm compresses five or six times, each morning. Eventually, I stopped using the ACV and applied warm compresses occasionally. I began using full strength ACV about four to five weeks ago. The chalazion is almost gone.

I was also drinking ACV in a glass of water each day, so I do not know if that may have been a factor as well.

Hi!

I usually don't post things on the internet, however this site saved me from my quite big chalazion on my upper eyelid. I had it for about two months and my husband insisted I get it operated, I made my doctors appointment, and because it was three weeks away I wanted to try some home remedies to avoid the operation. I started with warm compresses, then read posts on this site and included ACV...little in a cup with warm water and on the eyelid with a cotton-ball and made sure just a little got in my eye, but very little, cause it hurts! First nothing, my skin on the eyelid just got burned, and got swollen pretty bed...so I said this doesn't work and stopped the compressing and just put in a few drops of physiological solution every few hours. Two days later I was sleeping and as I woke up, I could hardly open my eye. I rushed into the bathroom and see that my chalazion was finally unblocked...so I continued compressing, ACV and phys. solution...it has not been a full week and it is almost gone completely, and it was really big. So I gladly cancelled my doctors appointment. So I don't know exactly what really made my chalazion disappear, maybe a combination of the three "remedies", but it got better really fast when I started with ACV, and I was not really constant with it, maybe one or two times a day for about ten minutes, I also put some ACV directly on the chalazion with a q-tip.

Don't over do it, because it will burn your skin.

So this is my story and I hope it will help somebody else, but just a warning, when you attack your chalazion stay home, because when it prepares to open up, you look like somebody punched you in the eye...at least me, my eyelid was really swollen and red...so it was a good thing I didn't plan any outings ;)

Good luck!

On the outside and be consistent using castor oil and warm presses. I found my diet was the reason.

Dear Earth Clinic, I have never posted before but would like to add this to the Chalazion page if possible.

I'm a 23 year old female suffering from bad hay fever, under a lot of stress recently following 8 months of job hunting and family issues. These past few weeks I have had a very poor diet with a high sugar intake and lots of caffeine. I was rubbing my eyes a lot to relieve the itchiness of the hay fever. Last week, I woke up feeling like my upper eyelid on my left eye had been punched in the night and now bruised: looking in the mirror, the eyelid was swollen to twice the size of the other eye, and was red in colour. The whole eyelid up to the browbone was extremely painful when I touched it, and a definite lump was forming under the eyelid. Also, the eye would only open half way. With a big job interview coming up and my birthday a few days away, my heart sank.

I waited for 4 hours to see the Eye Specialist in the local Eye Clinic, who said I had a chalazion and that they would surgically remove it by incision after 2 weeks, and that I should "put hot water on it" in the meantime (he refused to elaborate). I was prescribed eyedrops containing 1% chloramphenicol and instructed to use once daily for the next fortnight. Looking online, I was very disinclined to have surgery, as I am very squeamish and also, many people reported having further chalazions as little as weeks after the op. Days passed, and the swelling got redder and larger.

I read up about chalazions thoroughly online and especially on Earth Clinic, and decided a lifestyle change was in order. After readings hundreds of testimonials, I decided that apple cider vinegar was the most likely option.

Here was my regimen:

1. I bought a bottle of organic apple cider vinegar, making sure to find one 'with the mother' as this is said to be the most effective sort.

2. I put 2 tsp apple cider vinegar in cup (100ml) of very hot (near boiling) water, and used cotton wool to soak a little up. I then held it against my eye for a good minute or two, before gently moving the pad down away from the nose. I did this 3 times a day that week.

3. Later in the day, I would use green and black tea bags as hot compresses, and these seemed to help the swelling. I did this 3 times a day also.

4. Also, I started drinking 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar in a pint of warm water twice a day.

5. I completely cut out sugar, alcohol and fast food.

This regimen completely CURED my chalazion in the space of 5 days - I woke up on the 3rd day with a small amount of yellow gunk holding my eye shut, but it easily washed away and my eye looked better. Each day for 4 days I would find this gunk in my eyelashes, and would wash it away to reveal my eyelid becoming less and less irritated and red. Success!

Slowly and surely, sticking to the above regimen, my eye got better and I didn't need the horrible surgery. I would say that putting apple cider vinegar on a HOT water covered cotton pad was doubly effective, as it sped up the healing process. I have continued to drink the Apple Cider Vinegar since then, and am a sworn Apple Cider Vinegar fan ever since.