If a child has a lump on his eye, it may be a chalazion and should be treated promptly!

Author: Yu Gang, former chief physician of Beijing Children's Hospital

Reviewer: Tian Bei, Chief Physician, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University

Many parents find that their children have lumps on their eyes, which may be chalazions.

Chalazion is an eye disease caused by the blockage of the meibomian glands of the eyelids. Under normal circumstances, the meibomian glands can secrete oil to lubricate the eyes. When the meibomian glands are blocked, the secretions cannot be discharged and lead to degeneration. The degenerated tissue will irritate the hair follicles and skin around the eyelids, and finally form granulomas, which manifest as lumps on the children's eyes.

Figure 1 Original copyright image, no permission to reprint

1. Why are children more likely to get chalazions?

Chalazions are particularly common in children for three main reasons:

First, eating only meat, no vegetables, and drinking imported milk powder will cause internal heat;

Second, if you are prone to temper tantrums, Chinese medicine says it is a sign of disharmony between the spleen and stomach.

Third, mites. Mites can also cause children to frequently suffer from chalazions.

Chalazion in children is most likely to be misdiagnosed as sty. Stye is more common in adults, but less common in children. Many children often delay treatment due to misdiagnosis of sty. Because sty does not require special treatment, it can be cured after pus drainage. Chalazion is an idiopathic disease, which is completely different from sty. Many children who are misdiagnosed as sty do not take any treatment measures, but also apply hot compresses, which leads to adverse consequences.

Therefore, chalazions in children should never be misdiagnosed as styes.

2. What are the dangers of not promptly treating chalazion in children?

If chalazion is not treated promptly, the granuloma formed will cause the skin around the child's eyes to ulcerate, thus disfiguring the face.

Children who frequently have chalazions will suffer from dry eyes. In the past, there was no concept of dry eyes, and there were no means of examination. Now it is found that many people suffer from dry eyes due to repeated attacks of chalazions in childhood.

Figure 2 Original copyright image, no permission to reprint

In the early stage of chalazion, some children can be cured with some medicine without any other treatment. If the chalazion is getting bigger day by day, it can be solved by just turning over the eyelid and doing a small operation from the inside. Some parents are reluctant to let their children have surgery, and the long delay leads to missing the best treatment period.

Therefore, if chalazion is not treated promptly, firstly it will cause skin ulceration and disfigurement, and secondly repeated attacks will cause dry eyes.

3. Why do chalazions in children always recur?

The cause of chalazion is still unclear, but it is more believed to be related to factors such as children's picky eating, excessive overeating, unhygienic eye use, and dry stools, all of which can cause chalazion. In addition, the latest research has found that intestinal flora imbalance in children can also cause chalazion. With the use of traditional Chinese medicine conditioning and probiotics treatment, after the stool is adjusted to be smooth, chalazion will no longer recur.

Chalazion in children is not a local problem of the eye, but a manifestation of systemic problems in the eyes. Problems throughout the body can cause chalazion or lead to recurrence.

For recurrent chalazions, you can do meibomian gland massage. What is meibomian gland massage? It is to use a dry eye device to steam the child, just like giving the eyes a sauna. After steaming, the local solidified oil in the meibomian gland melts. At this time, massage and squeeze the child's meibomian glands, squeeze out the oil and then apply eye drops. Repeat the treatment every three to five days, and the child's symptoms will be alleviated. This method is called meibomian gland massage, which is suitable for children who are more cooperative. For children who do not cooperate, forced squeezing can only be used for treatment.

There is a new method for treating chalazion, which is intense pulsed light. Intense pulsed light passes through the skin surface and generates a temperature of about 40 degrees in the local tissue, which can activate blood circulation and remove blood stasis, increase rejuvenation, and is generally used for photorejuvenation. Now, intense pulsed light is used on the eyes to treat chalazion.

So, how does IPL treat chalazion? IPL warms the chalazion, activates blood circulation and removes blood stasis, making the meibomian glands in the chalazion unobstructed and allowing oil to be discharged smoothly, thus achieving the purpose of treating the chalazion.

Will IPL treatment of chalazion cause damage to the eyes? No. In the past, people did not dare to use IPL to treat chalazion because they were afraid of damaging the eyes. Since the invention of the eye shield, IPL treatment can be performed on the eyes. The eye shield is pre-measured and comes in large, medium, small, and extra-large sizes. It is placed in the eye during treatment. With the protection of the eye shield, IPL treatment of chalazion will not damage the eyes, and the treatment effect is very good.

If you find a lump on your child's eye, you must pay attention to it and take your child to a regular hospital's ophthalmology department for treatment. After a clear diagnosis, give timely treatment to avoid prolonged healing, recurring attacks, and complications.