What Is a Stye? It’s a small, painful lump that can pop up inside or outside your eyelid. It may look like a pimple at the base of your eyelashes. Styes under the eyelid may be less noticeable at first. But both can make your eyelid red, swollen, and tender to the touch. Your eye might feel scratchy and sore, too.

What Is a Chalazion? It’s a bump on the eyelid that grows when an oil gland gets clogged. It can sometimes start as a stye that hardens over time. Unlike a stye, it’s usually painless and feels rubbery.

What Causes a Stye? The problem is bacteria. It infects an oil gland inside the eyelid or the hair follicle of an eyelash. Those germs can come from anything that touches or rubs your eyes, like your hands or eye makeup. You may tend to get more styes during allergy season when eyes get itchy. You’re also more likely to get them if you have blepharitis, a type of inflammation around the edges of your eyelids.

What Causes a Chalazion? When glands around the eyelids make oil that’s too thick or their openings get blocked, oil builds up and inflames the area, causing a lump. Usually your doctor can’t tell exactly what caused it, though certain skin types and conditions like blepharitis may make them more common. Sometimes styes inside the eyelid can turn into chalazia.

Which Is Which? It can be hard to tell, but there are differences. In general, a stye is infected and a chalazion is not. Infection can cause a small “pus spot” at the tip of a stye (shown here) that looks like a pimple. It can make your eye painful, crusty, scratchy, watery, and more sensitive to light. It may even make your whole eyelid swell. A chalazion usually doesn’t hurt and may make the eyelid swell early on. But you may not even notice it at first. If there’s no longer an infection, or the oil glands get clogged without being infected, it’s called a chalazion.

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