Bumps, Lumps, and Skin Cancer

The doctors at the Parschauer Eye Center will examine patient's eyelids during routine and other eye exams. Patients commonly have many benign forms of eyelid bumps or lumps. Your eye doctor can assess and treat most of these lesions.

Styes, or pimples around the eyelid are the most common acute form of eyelid bump. Your eye doctor can prescribe different types of medications to resolve the condition, but the best treatment is frequent warm compresses. If a stye is not treated, it will turn into a non-painful hard bump called a chalazion. Chalazion are best treated with an excision by our lid specialist. If a bump is unknown or changing, your eye doctor will have you see someone who can evaluate the lid condition and sometimes biopsy the bump in our office

If you have an eyelid bump that is constantly irritated or is growing in size, contact our office and inform your eye doctor immediately.

Common Eyelid Bumps and Lumps

Hordeolum

A stye or pimple; infected lid gland - tender, red, painful to touch

Chalazion

An old stye, hard bump - non-painful to touch after the stye resolves

Verruca

A viral wart - small non-painful bumpy wart-like appearance

Papilloma

A smooth, benign, round, hard bump

Sebaceous Cyst

A clogged sweat gland - smooth, round, yellowish cyst

Some other more serious conditions can be

• Skin Cancer - Basal cell carcinoma - crater-like scaly bump
• Squamous cell carcinoma - scaly flat, crusty-like bump.
• Keratosis - similar to the squamous cell but benign
• Stye - Typical treatment for stye
  • See any eye doctor at the Parschauer Eye Center
  • Antibiotic treatment may or may not help.
  • Frequent hot, moist compresses
  • Persistent styes / chalazion should be removed by Dr. Augustine Kellis

Removal of lumps and bumps

Dr. Kellis can evaluate and excise (remove) the bump or lump in one office visit with little discomfort. Any uncertain or suspicious bump will be sent to a pathologist for examination to rule out cancer.