What is a Chalazion or Meibomian Gland Lipogranuloma?
Chalazion also known as meibomian gland lipogranuloma, is a cyst in the eyelid that is caused by inflammation of a blocked meibomian gland, on the upper or lower eyelid. Chalazions differ from styes (hordeolums) in that they are usually painless apart from the tenderness caused when they swell up, and in size (chalazion tend to be larger than styes). What are these eyelid glands? Eyelid glands are called the meibomian glands. The meibonian glands are named after a 17th century German anatomist Heinrich Meibom (who must have had good eyes to see these minute structures). They are also known as the palpebral glands, tarsal glands, or tarsoconjunctival glands. There are 30 to 40 of these glands in each of the upper and lower lids. The tiny openings of each of these oil or sebaceous glands are just behind the lid lashes at the lid margins. These glands produce a thick liquid secretion that is discharged into the tear film of the eye. This liquid is a mixture of oil and mucus and is called
