Redness of eyes in children | बच्चों की आँख में खुजली और लाल होने के कारण | आंखों में एलर्जी क्यों होती है? | What Are The Reasons For Redness In Eyes In Children? How Can It Be Prevented?

Redness of eyes in children | बच्चों की आँख में खुजली और लाल होने के कारण | आंखों में एलर्जी क्यों होती है? | What Are The Reasons For Redness In Eyes In Children? How Can It Be Prevented?

In this video, SimpliHealth expert Dr. Anin Sethi, talks about the causes of redness in eyes of children. alongside this he will be asnwering questions such as, What is the main cause behind the redness of eyes in children.

Age as a factor 

Let’s begin with the age. There is a chance of redness or infection in the eye of newborn babies. Any type of watering in a baby for less than one month is abnormal. If the newborn baby has watery eyes then we suspect some blockage in the tear duct that drains tears and spans from the eyes to the nose. 

Under this condition, there are only watery eyes; they don’t feel any pain, redness, or prick in the eyes. However, sometimes they might have sticky eyes in the morning. 

Watery eyes 

Watery eyes do not need to affect both eyes, it may occur in a single eye. If there are only watery eyes, and the patient doesn’t show any symptoms of redness, then this condition is congenital nasolacrimal duct obstruction. In this condition, there is blockage of tear ducts that span from the eyes to the nose. One must visit their ophthalmologist for its treatment, who might prescribe some massage to open these ducts. If it is not relieved by massage, we inject water, commonly called syringing, which helps in opening the tear duct blockage.

Causes if redness in eyes in babies

Infections 

There can be many reasons for redness in the watery eyes. If, after childbirth, in the span of 2-3 days, there is redness in the eyes, then we suspect some infection that may have transmitted from the mother’s birth canal to the baby’s eyes. 

Gonorrhea 

Gonorrhea or gonococcal infection is the most life-threatening disease among birth canal-mediated infections. This bacteria can infect the baby’s eyes from the mother’s birth canal, and it causes severe conjunctivitis. Gonorrhea-mediated infection may lead to ulcer formations or may cause severe damage to the pupils of the eye. So under these circumstances, if the newborn baby has watery eyes with redness, it is a must to have an eye check-up by the doctor. 

Chamydia

The second reason could be Chlamydia infection, a sexually transmitted disease that infects the baby’s eyes from the mother’s birth canal. However, the onset of redness in the eyes is after 4-5 days of infection.

Pneumonia 

In addition, the baby is at high risk of pneumonia. Under these conditions too, we must take the baby to the ophthalmologist for an eye check-up. 

Herpes

The third causative reason for causing eye infection in the newborn is Herpes, which usually transmits from the mother’s birth canal. For this, we need to administer anti-viral treatment to the babies. The mothers who are due for their delivery must visit their gynecologist for an internal examination of the birth canal and vagina. They must get examined for any discharge or infection transmitted to the newborn. 

If any symptoms of such infection are suspected, like Gonorrhea, which causes a severe infection in an infant’s eye, we can consider cesarean delivery under these circumstances. And if we suspect any infection, we must consult our gynecologists for their respective treatments.

Conjunctival glaucoma

Conjunctival glaucoma is another reason for watery eyes. In this condition, there is a blockage of the drainage channels for water inside the eye, or could be some fault in the formation; in return, the water starts accumulating inside the eyeball, leading to a rise in the eye pressure, the eye becomes enlarged. This condition is commonly known as glaucoma. If this Kala motiya or glaucoma develops at birth or after birth, this condition is called conjunctival glaucoma. 

Usually, this occurs when there is impairment during the formation of the eye. Under this condition, children may have watery eyes, and their eye size gets enlarged. The children will close their eyes at the exposure to bright light. It is essential to seek ophthalmologist advice in these cases because there is the risk of vision loss if not diagnosed in time.

Redness of eyes in 1-2 months of age 

The doctor explains various reasons for red eyes in newborns or 1 -2 months of age; now, let us discuss the possible reason for red eyes in children aged between 5-10 years. The most common cause in this age group is allergic conjunctivitis. We don’t suspect any infection; however, they suffer from environmental allergy, which leads to the sensitive eye; their eyes react to things present in the air, which results in itchiness, redness, watery eyes, and pricks eyes. 

Vernal Keratoconjunctivitis or Spring Catarrh

Often, allergic conjunctivitis in children is known as Vernal Keratoconjunctivitis or Spring Catarrh. It is named because it is more common in the spring season. During the spring season, when air is surrounded by pollen or any other plant material, this causes a reaction in the eye, resulting in an immune response causing redness in the eyes. 

Other symptoms are itchiness, watery eyes, irritated by bright light, and all these symptoms may occur depending upon the severity. 

What should you do?

We must avoid rubbing our eyes, and if you are having severe itching, you may apply ice packs on eyelashes or put a splash of water, or we can rub ice cubes wrapped in cloth over eyelashes.

Constant rubbing of the eyes may lead to the development of the power of the lens; there is an increased chance of having a cylindrical number and weakness of the pupil. The onset of allergic conjunctivitis may start coming at ten years or less. If it surfaces at this age, there is an increased chance of recurrent infection every season, and they might need medicine for every disease every year. 

What are the other causes?

These symptoms subside after the age group of 18 years and above, and allergic conjunctivitis starts receding. A second important reason is infective conjunctivitis. A touch of a dirty hand may cause this infection, followed by redness in the eyes. Antibiotic eye drops are the primary treatment, but it is communicable in the family or among children. We can avoid this situation with the proper hygiene of the child. We talked about the various reasons for redness in the eyes of children in this video.