# Eyelid? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 19, 2009, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eyelid/514311 "2009-10-19T10:19:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kidneyfailure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9f8e36/32.png) [@kidneyfailure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidneyfailure)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2009, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eyelid/514311/1 "2009-10-19T10:19:47Z")
Not quite sure what it is, but I’ve had this weird thing on my eyelid for about 4 months. It just looks like a whitehead on my eyelid, but I’m sure that’s not what it is. Maybe it’s a sty? I went to see a doctor and she didn’t say anything but gave me some kind of ointment and told me to put a hot towel on it. Alright, well, the ointment didn’t do anything, but when I hold the hot towel on there it cleans off the white part, which seems to be some kind of crust or flaky skin. It comes back after while and the thing still hasn’t gone away. It doesn’t burn, itch, or hurt. It’s just there. I guess it doesn’t really bother me anymore. It’s too small to see if you’re not actually looking for it. I’ve just started considering it to be a part of my eye now. Someone mentioned that it might be eye herpes (WTF?) but I assume it would have gone away by now if it was that. It’s been there almost half a year. And how the hell would I get eye herpes, anyway? I should mention that I DID have a sty in the exact same spot several years ago. The swelling and redness went away with some medicine back then, but there has always been a little hard kernel of something inside my eyelid. I figure it might be related somehow. Any ideas about what it might be or similar stories? ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2009, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eyelid/514311/2 "2009-10-19T12:08:37Z")
My niece is having a cyst removed from the eyelid today. It started out like what you just described. It took about a year and a finally different medical facility to get something done besides an ointment. ---
**Author:** ![spoike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/da6949/32.png) [@spoike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spoike)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2009, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eyelid/514311/3 "2009-10-19T14:18:58Z")
It sounds like a [milia](http://www.dermadoctor.com/article_Milia_56.html)to me. I had a small one a few years ago, but it eventually resolved itself, which is to say, I just went to see if I still had it, and, lo and behold, it’s gone. ---
**Author:** ![kapri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4491bb/32.png) [@kapri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kapri)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2009, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eyelid/514311/4 "2009-10-19T15:45:37Z")
> [@spoike](#): > > It sounds like a [milia](http://www.dermadoctor.com/article_Milia_56.html)to me. > > I had a small one a few years ago, but it eventually resolved itself, which is to say, I just went to see if I still had it, and, lo and behold, it’s gone. I used to have these–at least two or three. I stopped washing my face with soap\* or any other product except warm water, and they went away. \*I do wash my face with mild soap about once a week, and I work out a lot and therefore sweat a lot, so that cleans out the pores, too. ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2009, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eyelid/514311/5 "2009-10-19T19:26:26Z")
Ocular herpes refers to a herpes simplex virus I or II infection of the _cornea_, not the eyelid. Unless you’ve been using your eyelid to provide intimate pleasure to a person with HSV, or you have an HSV infection and auto-innoculated yourself, you don’t have ocular herpes. Besides which, the blisters HSV cause are extremely painful, and they are very plainly blisters, not pimples. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2009, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eyelid/514311/6 "2009-10-19T20:23:52Z")
They popped out a small calcium nodule on the niece. It was so unobtrusive to remove she started singing for her mom after the surgery. She’s in a rather good mood.🙂 ---
**Author:** ![pudytat72](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@pudytat72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pudytat72)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2009, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eyelid/514311/7 "2009-10-19T20:40:53Z")
There are little oil glands that open onto the edge of the eyelid, secreting an oil that creates a thin oil film over your eyeball to keep it from drying out. Sometimes, especially if you are an older person, the oil in these glands gets thick and white and crusty on the surface. Putting a hot towel on it softens the oil and helps it drain out. A stye is an infection, and it would be more red and sore. ---
**Author:** ![kidneyfailure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9f8e36/32.png) [@kidneyfailure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidneyfailure)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2009, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eyelid/514311/8 "2009-10-19T23:40:40Z")
> [@phouka](#): > > Unless you’ve been using your eyelid to provide intimate pleasure to a person with HSV Maybe this should be in the “sexual fetishes” thread back in the “In My Humble Opinion” section? It doesn’t quite look like a milia. It’s got a red area that is covered up by the white part. When the white part flakes off I can still see a kind of tiny white head underneath. I dunno what the hell it is.