baby's "goopy eye" - what's going on?
A topic for parents of babies. A common reason why parents come to the practice with their baby is that their child's eye is oily. Parents notice that the eye is a little red and very sticky and that there may be a yellowish "smudge" in the eye. The parents then usually think that the eye is suppurating - but this is almost never the case.
What actually happens is that the tears cannot drain properly. There is a tear duct from the eye down to the nose. In many babies, this is not yet properly open in the first few weeks, sometimes even in the first few months. The tears that do not drain properly then mix with what we call grains of sand. This creates the yellow "smudge" that often sticks to the eye.
However, if the eye is otherwise not red, if the conjunctiva (the white part of the eye) and conjunctival sac (inside of the lower eyelid) are not dramatically reddened, then this is a harmless story.
What can you do? Wash out the eye with boiled cold water or use herbal Euphrasia drops. And you can try to massage the tear duct a little by applying gentle pressure from the corner of the eye down to the nose. This often helps the tears to drain better and the slight inflammation of the eye to subside.
If this continues to occur frequently at the age of six to eight months, then it really is a matter for a visit to the ophthalmologist. You are welcome to discuss this with us paediatricians. It only really needs to be treated more intensively, i.e. with antibiotics, if the eye is inflamed and more reddened.
As always, if you are unsure, it is better to have it checked more often. However, it is important to know that this normal slight "goopy eye" is nothing pathological and occurs in many babies in the first few weeks and months.
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