All You Need to Know About Chalazion in Children
The symptoms of chalazia in adults are not easy to deal with. To find relief from the itch, swelling, excessive tearing and photophobia, sufferers are tempted to scratch their eyes out. How do you think your child would feel in such a situation? If it’s disturbing enough for adults, it would be ten times worse or more in children.
The physiology of a chalazion is best understood when you think about the three layers that make up your child’s skin-the epidermis, the dermis and the subcutaneous tissue. The epidermis is the outermost layer that serves to protect the skin from the environment. The sebaceous glands and hair cells that give moisture to the skin are located in the dermis, the second layer under the epidermis. Fat cells that insulate your child from cold temperatures are found in the subcutaneous tissue.
One of the sebaceous glands that serve to secrete oils that lubricate the ocular surface of the eye are the meibomian glands. In each of your kid’s eyelids are an estimated 100 meibomian glands. Oil produced by these glands will not be able to pass through the openings when the ducts get blocked. With nowhere else to go, oils will continue to get blocked until eventually, the gland will not be able take the pressure and break, causing inflammation to happen.
Bring your child to the doctor at the first sign of chalazion symptoms. Doctors will usually recommend home treatment to manage it at first. Basically, this entails several warm compress applications of about 15 minutes each 3 to 4 times a day.
Understandably, it can be difficult to do this on a young child since they’re naturally inclined to fight anything that makes them uncomfortable. Now is the time to get creative. Position a baby gently on your lap or let an older child lie comfortably in bed. You can allow them to hold the compress if they insist. You can read stories, sing songs or play games to while the time away.
Observe hand hygiene and eyelid hygiene at all times. Wash young children’s eyelids upon waking up and before going to sleep with no-tears baby shampoo Instruct your children to constantly wash their hands and to never bring it up to squeeze the chalazion and to not touch their faces, especially their eyes.
Bring your child immediately back to the doctor if he or she complains of blurred vision or severe pain, has fever or if the chalazion has grown larger. The pediatrician may suggest other alternatives to give your child relief from the cyst. These medical approaches can range from topical antibiotic treatment for secondary infections causing the chalazion to steroid injection and finally to surgical removal.
Make it a point to know everything you can about surgery before consenting to the operation should your kid needs to go under the knife. Since surgical removal of a meibomian cyst does not necessarily cure an individual’s propensity to develop chalazion, all non-invasive measures should first be tried to remove chalazion in a child.
Trying to find the ultimate pain-free chalazion treatment? Be sure to check out this article on chalazion homeopathy today.