Your eye doctor may prescribe eye drops or an ointment. These will help ease redness, swelling, and irritation. When using these medicines, make sure that the tip of the tube or bottle doesn’t touch your eyelid. Your doctor may also prescribe oral antibiotics or an antibiotic ointment. Or he or she may prescribe eye drops with cortisone. These medicines can help clear up a bacterial infection, a cyst, or a stye. If you take medicine, you must still use warm compresses and eyelid scrubs as recommended by your doctor.

Your eye doctor needs to recheck your eyes during your treatment. This is to make sure the redness and swelling (inflammation) is under control. Regular eye exams are also the best way to prevent other eye problems. Many eye diseases have no symptoms until the eye is already damaged. Finding and treating a problem early can help prevent something more severe.