What does stye look like on a child’s eye - what to do, Komarovsky’s advice

Description of the disease

Stye is the most common eyelid disease in ophthalmology, which over 80% of people encounter at least once in their lives.
The pathology is infectious in nature and occurs when a bacterial infection enters the eye area. The disease often occurs in childhood and adolescence, which is associated with an imperfect immune system and the inability of the child’s body to fight pathogenic microflora on an equal basis with adults. There are 2 main types of eyelid stye – external and internal. External stye is characterized by the appearance of an abscess on the outside of the ciliary edge of the eyelid. Internal stye is much less common and is an abscess that develops when the meibomian glands on the inside of the eyelid become infected.

If ocular pathology is suspected, the child must be shown to a qualified ophthalmologist. The lack of appropriate treatment (or self-medication) can cause irreparable harm to the health of the child’s eyes, causing severe purulent-septic complications.

How and with what to treat babies?

It should be remembered that only an ophthalmologist should prescribe treatment for stye in an infant. The independent use of any drugs is strictly prohibited, since special medications are used to treat inflammation in newborns, and the dosage is determined purely individually.

What not to do?

In order for the treatment of stye to be successful, under no circumstances should you allow your child to rub his eye. This can lead to the spread of infection throughout the mucous membrane.

Important! Under no circumstances should you try to squeeze out or otherwise open the abscess. It should disappear on its own

Otherwise, complications will begin, including a decrease in visual acuity.

Self-medication is also strictly prohibited, and this applies not only to traditional medicines, but also to folk remedies. Before using any drug, be sure to consult a doctor.

Medicines

Treatment of barley in infants requires an integrated approach. In this case, not only drops are used, but also various compresses, rinses and ointments. They help relieve swelling and reduce discomfort.

Drops

Only a doctor should prescribe drops for the treatment of stye, since many medications are contraindicated for children of this age.

As a rule, Oftalmoferon drops are used for therapy. This drug can be used in children from the first months of life. Albucid, Levomycetin and Tobrex drops are prescribed less frequently.

The dosage is determined individually. Usually the doctor prescribes 1 drop 3-4 times a day. The drug should be instilled into the conjunctival sac, which is located between the eyeball and the lower eyelid.

Ointments

Along with drops, ointments are used to treat barley. They have an antibacterial effect, relieve inflammation and speed up recovery.

Floxal is considered the best drug in this group. It can be used to treat newborns from the first weeks of life. The use of Tobrex and Erythromycin ointment is also allowed.

Ointments are used to lubricate the eyelid. As a rule, children respond better to such drugs because they do not cause pain or discomfort.

Lotions

As an additional therapy, ophthalmologists prescribe lotions based on chamomile, calendula or plantain. These medicinal plants relieve itching, swelling and reduce discomfort.

To prepare a medicinal solution, 2 tablespoons of dried raw materials are soaked in 200 ml of hot water for 15 minutes. Then filter and cool. A cotton pad is moistened in a solution at room temperature and applied to the inflamed area 3-4 times a day. Rubbing the eyelid is strictly prohibited.

Washing

Previously, rinsing with tea leaves was used to treat barley in children of any age. Modern doctors do not recommend using this remedy. This procedure can provoke an allergic reaction, since no one knows where the tea leaves were collected and what plants and aromatic oils were added to them to enhance the taste.

REFERENCE. If the eye becomes very sour and rinsing is necessary, use either ordinary boiled water or infusions of medicinal plants (calendula or chamomile).

Are folk remedies allowed?

Any remedies, including folk remedies, are used to treat barley in infants only with the permission of a doctor. But even in this case, they carefully monitor the baby’s body’s reaction, since some medicinal plants can cause allergies.

It should also be borne in mind that exclusively folk remedies are not suitable for treating barley. This disease requires an integrated approach using drops and ointments. Otherwise, there is a risk of severe suppuration and complications.

Surgical intervention

If the parents consulted a doctor when the first symptoms of the disease appeared and treated the stye correctly, surgical intervention is not required.

In most cases, a purulent abscess opens on its own. But, if after a week of conservative therapy this does not happen, the doctor may recommend surgery.

The procedure takes no more than 10-15 minutes, but in infants it is performed only under general anesthesia, since the child will not be able to lie still to open the abscess under local anesthesia.

Symptoms of stye

The clinical picture of the disease occurs acutely and occurs in a short time.
At the beginning of the disease, the child complains of itching of the edge of the eyelid of one or less often both eyes. Then there is limited swelling and redness of the skin of the eyelid in the area of ​​the inflamed hair follicle, pain when blinking or touching. In some cases, the swelling is so severe that the baby is unable to open his eyes. After a few days (usually two or three), a pustule appears at the top of the formation - a purulent yellowish head. When the stye is opened independently, purulent contents, consisting of dead cells of the hair follicle, bacteria and dertritus, are released. With internal barley, the symptoms are similar to the manifestations of the external form of the pathology, however, in this case, a purulent formation is formed from inside the eyelid in the depths of its cartilage. Inflammation can be determined by everting the eyelid. The opening of the abscess of the internal barley, in contrast to the external one, occurs in the conjunctival sac. When multiple styes form on the eye, symptoms of general intoxication syndrome may appear:

• increased body temperature;
• chills;
• muscle and joint pain, body aches;
• enlarged lymph nodes.

Causes of stye on the eye

The reasons leading to the occurrence of the disease include:

• failure to comply with hygiene rules;
• using someone else’s or expired cosmetics, dirty brushes and applicators;
• untreated demodex;
• long stay in a dusty, dirty room;
• lack of vitamins;
• colds, hypothermia, decreased immunity;
• constant stress;
• diabetes;
• obesity.

Stages of development of stye on the eye

Causes of stye

Barley occurs when pathogenic microorganisms enter the child’s body.
As a rule, the infection is bacterial in nature and is caused by Staphylococcus aureus. Much less commonly, the disease is the result of a viral or fungal infection. Penetrating into the sebaceous gland or hair follicle, pathogens provoke blockage of the excretory ducts, which causes inflammation and accumulation of purulent contents inside. The penetration of infection into the child’s eyelids is facilitated by non-compliance with hygiene rules, namely:

• Using other people's personal items - towels, handkerchiefs, etc.
• Lack of necessary hand hygiene, habit of touching eyes with unwashed hands.
• Putting on contact lenses with unwashed hands, improper storage of contact lenses.
• Swimming in polluted waters.

As a rule, barley occurs in children with weakened immune systems. A decrease in the child’s body’s defenses can occur in the following cases:

• hypothermia;
• presence of chronic diseases;
• exposure to stress;
• physical and emotional fatigue;
• avitaminosis;
• unfavorable environmental conditions, air pollution.

The essence of the painful condition

Popularly, a swollen eyelid with an external focus of pus is called stye; medicine defines infectious inflammation at the base of the eyelash as “hordeolum”. 2-3 days after redness and swelling of the eyelid, a yellowish “head” filled with pus appears in its thickness. After the purulent focus breaks through and the contents of the capsule come out, pain relief occurs with the gradual disappearance of swelling. If the inflammatory process has affected the inside of the eyelid, we are talking about internal barley. This form of the disease is much less common, but it cannot be cured without thorough treatment.

Causes and symptoms

The main cause of the inflammatory process in the eyelid is associated with increased activity of bacterial microflora, which is often observed with reduced immune defense. Staphylococcus aureus is recognized as the main culprit of infection; the pathogen enters the body under the influence of the following circumstances:

• unwashed hands if parents do not ensure the child’s hygiene;
• severe hypothermia of the child’s body;
• contact with the eyes of a foreign body or polluted air.

Painful symptoms of inflammation appear suddenly, causing itching and burning, profuse lacrimation with redness of the conjunctiva of the affected eye. Children become capricious, lose their appetite, sleep poorly, and constantly rub their eyes. It is quite easy to recognize barley at the initial stage, see here.

Diagnosis of barley

If there are manifestations of stye, the child should be examined by an ophthalmologist. It will not be difficult for a competent specialist to diagnose the disease based on characteristic clinical signs. However, confirming the diagnosis alone is not enough. To select effective treatment, the doctor first of all needs to determine the cause of the pathology and the characteristics of the course of the disease. To do this, the child is sent for additional studies:

• biomicroscopy of the eye;
• general and biochemical blood test;
• general urine analysis;
• bacteriological analysis of a smear from the conjunctiva (the method allows you to identify the pathogen and determine its sensitivity to antibiotics).

Ointments

Ointments are indispensable in the treatment of eye inflammation. They allow you to relieve swelling, relieve itching and burning in the eye. In order for the medicine to work, it must be used correctly:

Place your baby on a chair and ask him to look up - for example, to study the pattern on a chandelier or ceiling. Squeeze a small amount of ointment onto the spatula that came with the product.

If you don't have one, you can use a cotton swab or your finger. Carefully move the lower eyelid down, then place the ointment in the inner corner of the eye. Using a dry and clean cloth, spread the product over the entire eyelid.

Note! After applying the ointment, a temporary decrease in visual acuity is possible. Therefore, it is better for schoolchildren to use eye drops during the day and apply the ointment to the eyelid before going to bed.

A doctor should prescribe ointment for children. The doctor selects a remedy based on the characteristics of the disease: external and internal barley are treated differently.

Treatment of barley

As a rule, barley responds well to drug treatment and, with well-chosen therapy, disappears without a trace in 7-10 days. In the absence of complications, local conservative therapy, including the following procedures, is sufficient to eliminate ocular pathology:

• Washing the eyelids with disinfectant solutions
• Use of antibacterial drops and ointments.
• Use of topical antibiotics.

In addition, physiotherapeutic procedures such as ultraviolet irradiation and UHF have proven themselves to be effective in the treatment of barley.
If there are symptoms of general intoxication of the body, the child is prescribed antipyretic drugs, anti-inflammatory drugs, as well as oral or intramuscular antibiotics. To restore the immune system, the patient may be prescribed immunomodulators and vitamin complexes.

In some cases, barley reaches large sizes and does not respond to conservative treatment. In this situation, surgical removal of the inflammation may be required. To do this, the surgeon carefully opens the abscess with special miniature instruments, after which he thoroughly disinfects the resulting wound.

Complications of stye

Stye on the eyelid is dangerous because it has very serious complications. If the patient’s immunity is strong, then the disease can go away on its own, even without the use of medications. But when the body is exhausted, barley not only recurs, but can also lead to dangerous conditions.

1. Purulent conjunctivitis. If you do not maintain eye hygiene and do not use antibacterial ointments and drops, the infection will spread to the conjunctiva.
2. Chalazion. This is a condition when a cyst forms in the thickness of the eyelid, in the meibomian glands. In the photo, stye and chalazion may look similar, but the treatment methods are different: the cyst often has to be eliminated with injections or surgery.
3. Phlegmon of the orbit. This is a purulent inflammation of the orbital tissue, which is accompanied by severe pain, fever, swelling of the eyelids and can lead to decreased vision.
4. Thrombophlebitis of the vessels of the eye. This is the name for bacterial inflammation of the venous wall. It is affected by an infection that has spread from barley, which leads to redness of the eyes, hemorrhages, changes in the fundus of the eye, and decreased visual acuity.
5. Meningitis. This is a deadly disease that leads to coma, epileptic seizures, loss of vision and hearing. Meningitis usually develops against the background of orbital phlegmon, since the structures of the eye are located in close proximity to the lining of the brain.

Prevention of stye

To prevent inflammation of the eyes and eyelids, it is recommended:

• wash your hands before touching your face;
• strengthen the immune system through hardening, proper nutrition and exercise;
• promptly treat any infectious processes in the body.

Ophthalmologists warn that if signs suspicious of stye appear, do not self-medicate and, moreover, do not heat the source of inflammation (with a warm egg, a bag of salt). The most correct decision is to show the child to a pediatric ophthalmologist. Doctors at the SM-Doctor clinic for children and adolescents practice both conservative and surgical treatment of stye. High-tech diagnostic and surgical equipment, professional staff and an individual approach to each patient allow us to achieve high results in the treatment of ophthalmological diseases.

What does a specialist prescribe for barley?

The treatment method for gordeolum is based on the use of antibacterial drops or ointments, as well as their combination. Depending on the form of the disease and taking into account the age of the little patient, the doctor may need the results of blood and urine tests to determine the degree of infection of the child’s body.

What drops will help cure the eye?

According to the generally accepted treatment regimen for stye, not only in adults, but also in children, it is necessary to instill 1-2 drops of antibacterial medicine into the eye 4-5 times a day. If there are no special instructions from a specialist, therapy is designed for 7 days.

1. Among eye medications, Levomycetin is considered the most famous. A broad-spectrum antibiotic solution destroys bacteria at the site of inflammation. Drops stop the spread of infection, which becomes the key to a quick recovery.
2. The drug Tobrex is recognized as the mildest but most effective for the treatment of barley. Eye drops block the ability to reproduce, which is accompanied by further death of the pathogen. Newborns can be treated with a gentle, harmless remedy.
3. The most powerful antibacterial drug is Gentamicin. The eye solution against stye is used for no more than two weeks, but the medicine cannot be treated in children under 12 years of age.
4. The answer to the question of how to quickly cure stye on a child’s eyelid is clear - use Floxal drops. The dosage and duration of treatment with the most effective ofloxacin-based medication should be determined by the attending physician. To avoid the development of a purulent process, a solution of a powerful antibiotic begins to be used when the first symptoms of inflammation appear.

For you: Is it possible to go outside with barley, visit public places?

Instructions for use of drops

The treatment procedure is performed with clean hands, warming the eye solution if it was stored in the refrigerator. How to act to cure your eye:

• ask the child to sit down and throw back his head, looking up;
• pull back the lower eyelid with your finger and drip the medicine without touching the body or eyelashes;
• After the manipulation, the child should sit for several minutes with his eyes closed.

Important! If 8 days after the start of the inflammatory process the abscess does not break out on its own, a surgeon will help cure the stye. After opening the capsule, no noticeable traces remain.

Ointments against bumps on the eye

The eye ointment also contains an antibacterial component. Due to the thick consistency of the liniment, the active substance stays on the conjunctiva longer, increasing the treatment effect.

1. The most famous drug is Tetracycline ointment, but it can be used by children from 5 years of age. Usually the product is placed behind the edge of the lower eyelid while sleeping at night. The course of treatment lasts 5 days.
2. A similar effect can be achieved by using Erythromycin ointment. By the end of the five-day course of therapy, spontaneous opening of the purulent capsule occurs.
3. The composition of Hydrocortisone ointment is enriched with corticosteroids, so the use of a hormonal agent must be prescribed by a doctor. The drug actively destroys inflammation, the course of therapy is designed for only 7 days.

To cure a child faster, a combined method is used, when the ointment is combined with an ophthalmic solution. However, you cannot use different drugs at the same time; there should be a break of at least 15 minutes between the use of drugs. External therapy with antibiotic compositions does not harm health even with frequent use, but treating yourself is dangerous.

Instructions for use of eye ointment

Just as when instilling drops, the procedure must be performed with clean hands, but hand disinfection with alcohol solutions is prohibited. How to apply the eye product correctly:

• It is better for a small child to be in a supine position with his eyes wide open; older children can sit;
• moving back the lower eyelid, a strip of ointment is placed into the space of the conjunctival sac;
• ask the baby to lie down with his eyes closed for a while to distribute the medicine throughout the mucous membrane of the eye.

Keep in mind! It is strictly forbidden to squeeze out an abscess, even if it is ready to break through. Interrupting the course of antibacterial therapy will not help cure the disease, but will contribute to the development of antibiotic resistance in bacteria.

lingering barley

If a child’s stye does not go away, this is a sign of a chronic process. Persistent stye occurs when immune function is reduced. Any appearance of a virus or infection causes a malfunction of the protective cells. Therefore, infectious and inflammatory eye diseases are common.

For therapy, contact an immunologist. He prescribes immunostimulating drugs. Additionally, physiotherapy procedures are used: UV irradiation, UHF. They stimulate blood flow and natural fluid outflow.

To prevent chronicity of the process, it is necessary to identify the cause of the disease. Determine pathogenetic hereditary factors.

Signs

With barley, specific signs appear, by which doctors diagnose the disease:

• hyperemia (redness);
• itching in the area of ​​the upper or lower eyelid;
• increased tearfulness;
• the appearance of a purulent formation under the skin that is yellow in color;
• body temperature rarely rises;
• symptoms of illness (headache, dizziness, lethargy, fatigue);
• enlargement of local lymph nodes.

The disease develops quickly, and clinical symptoms increase sharply. Slight redness occurs in the eyelash growth area, accompanied by a burning sensation. The child becomes sick, sensitive to bright light, and scratches his eyes due to itching.

The swelling increases in size, the palpebral fissure narrows. When the case is advanced, it is impossible to open the eyes. The swelling increases in size, and purulent contents form inside the formation.

If left untreated, the abscess ruptures and its contents flow out. Because children scratch their eyes, this happens faster. After the stye breaks through, swelling and pain decrease.

It is possible to form internal styes in children. Inflammation can spread to the conjunctival sac.

Folk remedies for barley in children

What to do with hordeolum in children? In the initial stages of development of barley in a child, you can use unconventional treatment methods. Before a purulent abscess forms, the swelling can be eliminated and further progression of the disease can be prevented using dry heat. To do this, you need to boil a hard-boiled egg, wrap it in cotton cloth and then apply it to the sore eye until it cools completely. The egg can be replaced with jacket potatoes or a bag of hot salt.

Read in a separate article: Strabismus in newborns: causes and treatment

You can also cure a pimples on the eye using the following folk remedies:

1. Peel a small clove of garlic and apply it to the inflamed area for 15 minutes. This procedure must be repeated 3 times a day. For a better effect, the clove can be slightly heated.
2. Cut a freshly cut aloe leaf in half and place in the refrigerator for 1 hour. After time, brush the barley well with aloe pulp. You can also make a paste from the leaf, which then needs to be poured with chilled boiled water and left for 6 hours. The infused mixture should be used as a lotion for an inflamed eye.
3. Pour 250 ml of boiling water over a dozen medium-sized bay leaves and let steep for 15 minutes. After this, every 2-3 hours, take out a leaf and apply it to the hordeolum.

There are a huge number of folk recipes for frequent barley. You can even hear from grandmothers that to get rid of a pussy you should spit in the eye, show the muzzle to the abscess, or use a red thread.

Such treatment methods are not effective and can even seriously harm health, so it is recommended to give preference to medications prescribed by a doctor.

The best stye drops for children

How to treat a pussy? To treat barley in a child, you can also use topical antibacterial medications. The most commonly prescribed eye drops are:

• Erythromycin;
• Tobrex;
• Albucid;
• Tsiprolet.

From the first days of life, you can also use the effective remedy Ophthalmoferon.

Eye drops quickly relieve inflammation, are easy to use and inexpensive, but side effects such as burning may occur during therapy.

Doctor Komarovsky's opinion

Well-known children's pediatrician Dr. Evgeny Komarovsky divides the duration of treatment of the inflammatory process depending on the associated factors. If barley:

• Appears often (and also if there are several gordeliums) - local therapy is not enough, oral antibiotics are required.
• It appears rarely - you should not resort to antibiotics, giving the baby’s immune system the opportunity to cope with the pathology on its own.
• It is large in size and causes severe pain - instillations of 20-30% sodium sulfacyl or 1% hydrocortisone emulsion are required.
• Does not open on its own within 1 week from the moment of manifestation - surgical intervention is required.

Dr. Komarovsky does not recommend steaming or heating the boil, and emphasizes that such a condition can be cured, even taking into account a course of antibiotics, in at least 2 weeks.

To prevent staphylococcal infection from spreading to the orbit (provoking meningitis or phlegmon of the orbit), the abscess must not be squeezed out or opened independently.

An effective antiglaucoma drug is Travatan eye drops.

Dr. Komarovsky recommends combining antibacterial drops and ointments as recommended by a doctor

How to recognize the onset of central retinal vein thrombosis is described in detail in the article.

Manifestation of the disease

In most cases, stye on the eye of a baby looks like a red, painful lump on the eyelid. It can appear on both the upper and lower eyelids, as well as on the inside or outside of the eyelid, near the edge of the eyelid where the eyelashes are located.

The eyelids have many sebaceous glands. These glands produce a substance that helps lubricate and coat the eyes. Sometimes these glands can become clogged with excess oil, dead skin cells, and bacteria. When this happens, fluid accumulates in the blocked gland and cannot be released.

As a result, barley is formed. It occurs more often in a one-year-old child than in older children and adults. This bump on the upper or lower eyelid may look like a pimple. The stye may become infected, causing it to turn red and increase in size.

Styes can also be caused by various bacteria, such as Staphylococcus aureus, which infect the sebaceous glands at the base of the eyelashes. The infection causes a red, pus-filled bump to form on the eyelid. Parents may also notice yellow or white discharge coming from it.

At the same time, the baby will become restless, since this abscess can be painful for him, due to the fact that this lump is filled with pus, and inflammatory and infectious processes are actively occurring in it.

The child will be irritated not only by pain, but also by swelling of the eyelid, a lump hanging over the eye, or the eyelid being pulled down due to an abscess if the baby has this inflammation on the lower eyelid.

The baby will be more capricious because of such a boil, while the latter will increase, become larger, and, in the end, the boil will burst in a few days, most likely when the baby is sleeping.

Of course, any parents want their baby to get rid of this problem as quickly as possible and for it to stop causing him discomfort.