Chalazion - Some Stories

I had been afflicted with chalazion for about five years. My history of chalazion treatment was long and painful.I would like to share the experience and struggle with chalazia. In this column, I would like to share with you some home-grown remedies. Mine was a recurrent case of multiple chalazia and a history of painful protracted affliction. I went through chalazion surgery - not once but multiple times in five years.

About five years back, looking at a small sty-like lump on my right eye when my ophthalmologist friend uttered,"chalazion!" I thought what a smart and smacky name! Within a couple of months a number of similar lumps appeared on both eyes. Initially, my physician prescribed some tobramycin dexsmethasone cream and antibiotic drops. They had no positive impact at all. Surfing over internet, I learnt how chalazion is different from sty, hordeolum, blepharitis or any other eye infection. A chalazion is a lump on upper/lower eye lids caused by obstruction of oil glands, known as Meibomian glands. These lumps often increase in size, or in number over days and often turn reddish and painful. For me it reached to a stage when I was feeling really uncomfortable in social gatherings. I tried out almost every possible remedy I heard about chalazion treatment.

Chalazion - My Story
Almost every day religiously I applied warm compresses on my chalazion riddled eyes. It provided some temporary relief, but did not heal. I planned for my first chalazion surgery sometime during summer of 2006. It was a short but painful out-patient surgery performed on local anesthesia. The surgeon flipped the eye-lids and held them with chalazion-clamp and performed the incision. There was some painful swelling for two days after the incision. I was happy to get rid of the chalazion. But my happiness was short-lived. Within months they reappeared and I was frantically searching for an effective treatment.

Someone told me that homeopathy remedies are good for chalazion or simlar eye-sores. I got immediately interested in homeopathy and consulted two homoeopathists in sequence. They experimented with a number of medicines like Calcaria Carbonica 200,Pulsatilla 200,Staphysagria 200 and finally with Thuja 200. After almost a year of homeopathy treatment I was at the edge of frustration. It is necessary to mention that I had been also continuing with regular warm compresses while I was under homeopathy treatment. I also heard about Johnson's Baby Shampoo and that washing eyes a couple times every day with no-tears soap can provide some relief. I tried that too, but did not feel any difference. As I was finding no remedy to my chalazia, my frustration reached its peak.I also got scared as someone told me that chalazion can cause other complications like astigmatism due to pressure on the cornea. Almost at the end of the rope, quite desperately I planned my next chalazion surgery sometime in December 2008. Truly I was not at all feeling optimistic about the future at all. I accepted the possibility of a relapse of chalazion within months time. True to my premonition, after about two months I could feel the symptoms of chalazion. I could feel feel two lumps on my left eye. As I was struggling to reconcile with the reality, one day my wife talked to me about green tea.

Earlier I heard of a lot about its healing effect as a healthy supplement. I heard green tea lowers the rate of protein oxidation, a chemical reaction that makes fats in the blood more likely to stick to the artery walls. Green tea also contains vital antioxidants, which help protect cells from further damage. Also, green tea lowers cholesterol and lipid levels, thereby helping to cure blocked arteries. But I never heard much about green tea in the context of ailments like chalazion.



One fine morning my wife prepared Green Tea following the usual tea preparation process. To make it little appealing she added some chopped ginger-roots, few drops of lemon and honey. It was tasteful. We commenced it as a recurrent schedule and everyone in the family started having green tea twice a day. I started the habit with zero expectation. But to my pleasant surprise, the chalazia gradually subsided and within a month they vanished altogether. From that point onwards, I have been religiously taking green tea. I have strong belief that green tea can play a preventive role in chalazion treatment.



Chalazion - My friend's story
One of my close friend, who also suffered from regular chalazion affliction, recently shared with me his remedy for chalazion. He also had undergone several chalazion surgeries, until he stumbled into some remedies those finally cured him. He had been generous about sharing the remedies with me.According to him, he used two supplements. One is Norwegian Salmon Oil by Carlson Labs . He emphatically told me that other brands of salmon oil soft gel did not work for him. According to him, two soft gels of salmon oil a day kept chalazion away from him. Interestingly, this is a very well known supplement recommended for cardiovascular health . Medical Scientists are encouraging people to eat more fish. Fish Body oil is the only major source of Polyunsaturated Omega-3's EPA and DHA.
Another remedy, that my friend used along with salmon oil soft, was Tea Tree Oil. Tea Tree oil is also very famous for its first aid usage such as for cuts, burns, abrasions, insect bites, bee stings, rashes, impetigo, boils, sinus problems, sore throat, thrush, fingernail and toenail infections. He used to rub one drop of tea tree oil externally over the affected area of eye lid. It must be done extra-carefully so that it does not get inside the eye, otherwise one would experience burning and painful sensation in the eye. According to him, both of these supplements - salmon oil soft gels and tea tree oil- saved him from recurrence of chalazion.


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Now, here goes some emphatic disclaimer from my end. I am not a medical practitioner or any subject matter expert on chalazion treatment. It is basically a narration of my personal experience and experience of those who also suffered from chalazion , which may or may not help those suffering from chalazion. The fact is that not all remedies act in the same manner on every individual. Nor I am attempting to criticize or promote any school of medical practice. I am not recommending or prescribing any remedy or treatment, and the risk and responsibility of trying out anything based on my blog, without any doctor's recommendation, would solely rest on the reader.
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7 comments:

  1. Thanks for posing... I too have had issues with reoccurrence. And my first surgical experience was not pleasant. The eye doctor told me that once you get them they are likely to reoccur but did not really have any particular reason. I've been able to get most of mine (until now) to resolve using the hot compress method. But I've got one at the moment that is getting larger and I've not been able to get it to resolve (and considering the surgery again). I was glad to read your post and will try the green tea (I like that better than the possible alternative).

    http://whatscooking.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!34FFEDA56EEB97A0!3781.entry

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  2. Hi Amitabh, i completely empathize wit ur ordeal as i am going thru the same for the past 9 months...had a surgery 3 months back and steroid injections yes'day...abt this green tea,sorry to sound dumb but i am a bachelor and how do u prepare it? is it sold too? PLEASE reply so that i can try it out!thnx in advance dude!!

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  3. Definition: Chronic, non-specific inflammatory hpogranuloma of a meibomian glan.
    Chalazion (Meibomian cyst)

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  4. Hi, Was glad to read your article- i too have been suffering from recurrent chalazia. had two surgeries in the past year and loads of pills and ointments. which do not work!

    did u use a specific herbal tea please? i heard there are different types each having specific properties for healing.

    thanks!

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  5. Thanks so much for sharing your ordeal. I'm dealing with this for the first time, and really appreciate your narrative.

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  6. I enjoyed reading your articles. This is truly a great read for me. I have bookmarked it and I am looking forward to reading new articles.

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  7. Most of my family members are like to drink Green Tea because it is good for health and remove eye problems.Great informative blog posted here!! Treatment of Dry Eye Syndrome

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