Styes are painful, red, swollen lumps on the eyelids that are common in kids. Although they can be irritating, they rarely require medication and can easily be treated at home.<\/p>\n
A stye is essentially a pimple on the eyelid. There are glands that secrete oily protection onto the eyelashes. You never think about these glands until one gets clogged. When the edge of the eyelid gets irritated, it can lead to the glands clogging. The oil backs up and swells the gland, causing a stye. The key to curing a stye is to clear the blockage and allow the oil to flow naturally.<\/p>\n
If your child gets styes frequently, there are a few steps to take. First, help them do gentle eyelid scrubs to keep bacteria under control. This is best done by using a drop of baby shampoo on a wet cotton ball. Excess bacteria on the eyelids can cause irritation and swelling that makes styes more likely to develop. Second, if you can get your child into a routine of using a warm compress on their eyes once or twice a day, this will also help.<\/p>\n
Kids with allergies<\/a> often have itchy eyes \u2013 and kids with itchy eyes tend to rub their eyes. The rubbing can cause inflammation, leading to the oil glands becoming blocked and causing a stye. So, treating your child\u2019s eye allergies can help prevent future styes.<\/p>\n To stop the itching and rubbing, I recommend eye allergy drops. There are two main types of these \u2013 \u201crelievers and controllers.\u201d The \u201crelievers\u201d are over-the-counter antihistamine drops that relieve the itch immediately. However, repetitive use of antihistamine eye drops can dry out eyes \u2013 which makes kids rub their eyes even more. These shouldn\u2019t be used often.<\/p>\n If your child needs daily eyedrops for itchiness, then ophthalmologists recommend trying a \u201ccontroller\u201d eye drop. One good example of this is the over-the-counter eyedrop Ketotifen. This kind of drop is slower to give relief, but when used daily (following package directions), it will keep your child much more comfortable, won\u2019t cause drying, and will help prevent styes.<\/p>\n My brilliant wife taught me the best trick of my career when she had our 3-year-old lay on his back, close his eyes tightly, and then she put two drops in the little divots between his nose and the inner corner of his eyes. Then she told our youngest to blink and the drops washed right into his eye without any drama!<\/p>\n It\u2019s important to know that almost all brands of eye drops can sting, but this can be greatly reduced by keeping them in the refrigerator. The cooling reduces the sting to almost nothing.<\/p>\n Styes rarely need medicine. The best treatment is to use warm compresses frequently. This will soften the skin and increase flow from the oil glands so that the stye will come to a head (just like a pimple) and drain.<\/p>\n We usually recommend you place a warm compress on your child\u2019s eye for 10 minutes at a time 3 to 4 times a day. Easy, right? Well, one day, a tired mother heard my advice on this, and countered:<\/p>\n \u201cHow do I get a wiggly 3-year-old to sit still with a warm compress on their eye for 10 minutes? I think wrestling an octopus into a onesie might be easier!\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n I don’t have any wrestling moves to recommend, but I can tell you that any object that holds and radiates heat for a while can work. You can use a hand towel soaked frequently in warm water or microwave a bean-filled warmer that people like to place on their feet, hands, or injuries.<\/p>\n An ophthalmologist once taught me a great trick using an unpeeled hardboiled egg! A hardboiled egg is easy to use, fits into the eye socket really well and can radiate heat for 10 minutes. The egg can even be cooled and reheated later. I just wouldn\u2019t suggest eating it after a few times of heating and cooling!<\/p>\n Being patient and doing the warm compress consistently for a few days is the key to success. We know it\u2019s a challenge; if you figure out how to put the onesie on the octopus, we\u2019d love to hear what you<\/em> recommend!<\/p>\n My Doctor Online Styes are painful, red, swollen lumps on the eyelids that are common in kids. Although they can be irritating, they rarely require medication and can easily be treated at home. What are styes? A stye is essentially a pimple on the eyelid. There are glands that secrete oily protection onto the eyelashes. You never think about these glands until one gets clogged. When the edge…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":4467,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[106],"tags":[93,530,684,279],"class_list":["post-4465","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health-issues","tag-eye-problems","tag-red-eyes","tag-skin","tag-skin-care-for-children","ages-all-school-ages"],"metadata":{"_edit_lock":["1732309307:6"],"_edit_last":["6"],"slide_template":["default"],"ase_chapter_enable_timeline":["off"],"video_format_choose":["youtube"],"_wpb_vc_js_status":["false"],"_yoast_wpseo_content_score":["90"],"_yoast_wpseo_focuskeywords":["[]"],"_yoast_wpseo_keywordsynonyms":["[\"\"]"],"_yoast_wpseo_estimated-reading-time-minutes":["4"],"_yoast_wpseo_wordproof_timestamp":[""],"qode_animate-page-title":["no"],"qode_show-page-title-text":["no"],"qode_show-page-title-image":["no"],"qode_show-sidebar":["default"],"qode_hide-featured-image":["no"],"_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":["106"],"_yoast_wpseo_primary_ages":["293"],"_thumbnail_id":["4467"],"post_featured_author_bio":["Dr. Jeff Gaborko's biograpghy reads: I grew up in Southern California but gained a love for the Vacaville area while attending UC Davis for my undergraduate college years. After medical school and residency took me to Houston, Texas, my family and I relocated to Vacaville in the summer of 1998. We have enjoyed our time in the Vacaville ever since.\n\nI enjoy treating a wide array of pediatric problems, but especially appreciate the chance to take care of emergent injuries and sports-related problems. I love getting to know my patients and their favorite hobbies. When you get to know people, it is easier to partner with them during their tougher health times. Despite the seriousness of illness, I always attempt to make visits fun in some new way. That's my way of saying I love pediatrics because I am still a child at heart. Read more at {{https:\/\/mydoctor.kaiserpermanente.org\/ncal\/providers\/jeffreygaborko}}."],"post_featured_author_bio_link":["https:\/\/mydoctor.kaiserpermanente.org\/ncal\/providers\/jeffreygaborko"],"post_featured_author_image":["https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Jeffrey-Gaborko-Print.png"],"post_featured_author_role":["YES"],"_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":["Styes are common in kids. Although they can be irritating, they rarely require medication and can easily be treated at home - Here's how:"],"_yoast_indexnow_last_ping":["1732309337"],"wpfp_favorites":["1"],"ase_map_component_start_point":["a:2:{s:3:\"lat\";d:29.76;s:3:\"lng\";d:-95.38;}"],"ase_mapbox_style":["openstreet"]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4465","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4465"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4465\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4774,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4465\/revisions\/4774"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4467"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}How do you put eyedrops in a child\u2019s eye?<\/h3>\n
How do you treat a stye?<\/h3>\n
Resources For Parents:<\/h3>\n
\n<\/strong>Stye or Bump on the Eyelid<\/a>
\nStyes<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"