Can a chalazion go away on its own?

The first line of treatment of chalazia is often warm compresses several x daily for a couple weeks.  Many specialists also recommend an eyedrop or ointment with a steroid to be used for 2 or 3 weeks.  When such conservative measures fail,  lancing the chalzion is usually the next step.

 

Most chalazions go away on their own, however, that usually happens within the first few hours to days. The longer they stay, the larger they are, the less chance they will go away. I had my own eyelid chalazion drained (by another surgeon) so it is common and safe when necessary.

Chalazion can definitely be managed without surgery. A combination of a spoon warmed in hot water and soft massage is enough in most cases. You should be safe with artificial tears, but check you don't have an allergy to them before use. if this fails to settle things down, you may need surgical treatment again - sorry!

A chalazion is actually a meibomian cyst caused by the blockage of a meibomian gland in the upper or lower eyelid. This is also the reason why patients with chalazions frequently suffer from symptoms of dry eyes. There is no contraindication to using natural tears when a patient has a chalazion. Chalazions can be treated conservatively with warm compresses, topical antibiotic ointment and antibiotic eye drops that contain steroids. In some cases, an injection of dilute kenalog can help as well.  While chalazions can resolve spontaneously, there is also a high incidence of recurrence.  In these cases, surgical excision may be indicated. 

This is a good question. Anything foreign in the eye can increase small infections. I would recommend using sterile saline for some thing and seeing if that helps. Getting the advice of an ophthalmologist is a good idea also so that they can assess the rest of the eye. 
Best of luck 

DrC

A Chalazion occurs when eyelid mucous glands become clogged. This results in cystic lesions on the under surface of the eyelid which can cause pain and discomfort.The vast majority of chalazions respond to conservative management. In most cases, this involves warm compresses and antibiotic ointments. Under these circumstances, these lesions point to the surface and drain spontaneously. In some cases, lesions are persistent and surgical drainage is necessary.When this situation arises, it's appropriate to consult a board certified plastic surgeon. This surgeon should be able to formulate a treatment plan that addresses your physical findings and achieves your aesthetic goals.

The first treatment for your chalazion is warm compresses. Topical drops and ointments are not very effective. I prefer oral antibiotics. If it still persists, then injection of Kenelog (steroid) usually gets rid of it. There is usually no need to incise and drain chalazion. 

I'm sorry you're having this problem with the chalazion. If it's recurrent, you may want to ask your plastic surgeon to biopsy it to make sure it's not something more worrisome. 
A Chalazion can be caused by blockage of one of the sweat glands in the eyelid which produces oil. Warm compresses are an easy way to reduce blockage of these glands but the key is to perform the warm compresses correctly.
My favorite is the Warm Spoon Method. Check it out below!
The Hot Spoon Method for Treating a Chalazion:
The heat will help to relieve pain and encourage the blockage to pass through the gland. Step 1. Pad the end of a wooden kitchen spoon with an absorbent material such as gauze.Step 2. Dip the spoon into a bowl of steaming water.Step 3. Keeping the eye closed, raise the padded end to the affected eye.Step 4. As the spoon cools, redip it in the steaming warm water and repeat.Step 5. Repeat for 10 minutes and do this 3 times daily. 

It is important to understand why you may get a chalazion in order to help you better understand how to get rid of it. Many people who get chalazia (also referred to as styes) have underlying inflammation on their eyelids called blepharitis.  We have oil glands along our eyelids and when these get clogged you are more prone to developing chalazia.  It is an inflammatory reaction, and usually not an infection. 
Warm compresses are the best 1st line treatment to help. I find that my patients are most compliant with the easiest remedies:  eye masks with beads (i.e. Oasis eye mask, Bruder eye mask) that can be warmed in the microwave for 30seconds help keep the heat for a good 10 minutes and I recommend this multiples times a day when you have an acutely inflamed chalazion.  There are eye drops/eye ointments with a combination of steroid and antibiotic that can also be prescribed.  If you have recurrent chalazia or multiple eyelids involved with inflammation and chalazia then an oral antibiotic with anti-inflammatory effect, such as Doxycycline, can be helpful as well.  
Chalazia can be stubborn and take several weeks or months to fully resolve, however it is important to stay consistent with doing your part to help your eyelid inflammation improve!  Other options are injections of steroid medication into the chalazion.  Incision and drainage of chalazia is necessary for those that do not drain on their own.  
Yes, you may absolutely use artificial tears for your dry eyes when dealing with a chalazion.  In fact, most patients with blepharitis have dry eye. There are other treatments out there to help patients dealing with blepharitis and clogged oil glands of the eyelids (Tempsure, Lipiflow, IPL, Blephex, etc)

A chalazion is caused by inflammation and backing up of oil glands on the lid; these oils contribute to your tear film, so if you have inflamed glands that correlates well with your symptoms of dry eyes, and they are related. artificial tears now and at any point will not impact the progress of the chalazion, but will likely make your eye feel better. 
sometimes chalazion resolve spontaneously. another option might be an injection of steroids and other anti-inflammatories- like 5-fu - contact your ophthalmologist for options. incision and drainage works, as you mentioned, but has some downtime associated with it.