Eye Sty Treatment Cost

Typical costs:

• For patients covered by health insurance, out-of-pocket costs typically consist of doctor visit copays, prescription drug copays or coinsurance of 10%-50%. Treatment for an eye sty typically is covered by insurance.
• For patients not covered by health insurance, an initial doctor visit to diagnose an eye sty can cost from $50 to almost $120 or more. Treatment can cost from less than $25 for warm compresses and gentle eyelid cleansing. It can cost about $20-$85 for antibiotic or antibiotic/steroid ointment or eye drops. It can cost a little over $15-$175 or more for oral antibiotics, depending on the type of medication. And it can cost from $100-$250 or more for a doctor to lance and drain the sty.
• For example, Physicians Urgent Care in Tennessee charges about $65 for a visit for a sty. The Little Clinic[1] urgent care center, with locations in six states including Arizona, Colorado and Ohio, charges $79. And at Lakewood Family Eye Care[2] in Florida an eye exam for a medical problem starts at $55 for an established patient, or costs $74 to $119 for a new patient.
• Drugstore.com charges about $14 to $19 for eyelid cleanser[3] .
• Drugstore.com charges about $25 for a tube of generic prescription erythromycin eye ointment. It charges about $20 for a bottle of neomycin-polymyxin-dexameth, a combination antibiotic/steroid eye drops, and charges $84 for a bottle of the brand-name equivalent, Maxitrol.
• Drugstore.com charges about $25 for a bottle of generic oral antibiotic dicloxacillin sodium. Drugstore.com charges about $17 for a bottle of the generic oral antibiotic cephalexin and about $175 for the brand-name equivalent, Keflex.

• A doctor typically can diagnose a sty with a simple visual exam. The doctor might recommend moist, warm compresses, applied several times per day for about 10 minutes, and possibly mild cleansing of the eyelid. A sty often will go away within a week or two.
• In some cases, a doctor might recommend an antibiotic eye cream or, for a very persistent sty, an oral antibiotic. Or, if the sty does not go away or is very large, the doctor might lance and drain it.
• The National Institutes of Health[4] offers an overview of eye sties and treatment.

• In some patients, eye sties tend to recur, and regular cleansing of the eyelid sometimes is required for prevention. According to WebMD[5] , some recurrent sties can be linked to rosacea, which can cost from $10 to hundreds of dollars per month to treat with medications.

• The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services offers a locator[6] for clinics that provide discounts on an income-based sliding scale.

• A family doctor, pediatrician or eye doctor can diagnose and treat an eye sty. The American Medical Association offers a doctor locator, and FindUrgentCare.com offers an urgent care center locator[7] . Or, the American Academy of Ophthalmology provides an ophthalmologist locator[8] , and board certification status can be verified by contacting the American Board of Ophthalmology.

1.  www.thelittleclinic.com/treatmentsservices/Pages/SelectState.aspx?category=103
2.  /lakewoodeyes.com/
3.  www.drugstore.com/search/search_results.asp?N=0&Ntx=mode%2Bmatchallpartial&Ntk=All...
4.  www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002004/
5.  www.webmd.com/eye-health/understanding-sty-prevention
6.  findahealthcenter.hrsa.gov/Search_HCC.aspx
7.  www.findurgentcare.com/
8.  www.aao.org/aao/find_eyemd.cfm

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