The child's lower eyelid is red

Main reasons

There are several reasons for redness of the eyelids in a newborn baby:

The baby has caught some kind of infection, and the fragile body reacts to the disease in a similar way.
Redness is a consequence of physiological disorders of the body that need to be identified and treated.

Note! You should not risk your baby’s health and self-medicate. At the first sign of discomfort, take your child to the pediatrician. He will give an accurate assessment of the baby’s health and prescribe the correct course of treatment.

Infections

Among the infectious diseases that can manifest as redness of the eyelids in a newborn are:

conjunctivitis;
blepharitis;
sore throat;
stomatitis;
keratitis;
helminthic infestation.

Blepharitis

An infectious disease that occurs in children with weakened immune systems. Main symptoms:

redness of the eyelids;
swelling of the eyelids

The disease is difficult to cure, and in the case of an unscrupulous approach, it is easy to run into a relapse. To be sure to cure your baby, you should visit your doctor, who will prescribe a comprehensive treatment. The cause of the disease may be:

allergy;
vitamin deficiency;
inflammation of the upper respiratory tract;
getting dust or smoke particles into your eyes.

Conjunctivitis

The cause of conjunctivitis, in most cases, is harmful bacteria that enter the mucous membrane of the eye. In rare cases, the source of the disease may be allergic reactions or pathogenic fungi. Symptoms:

eyelids swell;
the skin around the eyes itches and flakes;
redness of the eyelids;
increase in temperature;
severe lacrimation.

Keratitis

Keratitis refers to infectious diseases that occur after physical damage to the cornea of the eye. Symptoms of the disease:

the mucous membrane of the eye begins to hurt;
redness develops;
the eyes begin to react painfully to light;
the skin around the eyes begins to peel off;
the child begins to be capricious and loses his appetite.

Angina

Sore throat often has strong side effects, which can also include redness of the eyelids. It is recommended to visit a pediatrician as soon as possible and begin comprehensive treatment of the problem.

Stomatitis

Stomatitis is a disease of the oral cavity, but the disease can cause complications, which are expressed in inflammation of the organs of vision. Self-treatment is not recommended.

Worm infestation

Caused by harmful parasites that enter the baby's body. The child begins to behave restlessly, constantly being capricious, and there is significant redness of the skin around the eyes.

Medicines for the disease and the course of treatment are prescribed exclusively under the guidance of a doctor.

Non-infectious causes

In addition to infectious, there are other reasons that can cause redness of the eyelids in a newborn. The most common of them include:

dacryocystitis;
allergies;
hemangioma;
kidney disease;
cardiovascular diseases;
liver and duct diseases;
injuries.

Dacryocystitis

A disease that can manifest itself from the first days of a newborn’s life. It is associated with obstruction of the tear ducts and inflammation of the tear glands. Symptoms:

the eyelids begin to redden and swell;
the skin around the eyes turns red and peels;
the baby constantly produces tears;
in the morning the eyelashes stick together due to the abundant formation of pus.

Note! Along with dacryocystitis, conjunctivitis often begins, which significantly complicates treatment.

Allergy

Redness of the eyelids in a newborn may be the result of a common allergic reaction. This phenomenon is not uncommon, and allergies can occur due to:

pet hair;
dust;
plant pollen;
food;
medicines.

Only the attending physician can determine the cause of the allergic reaction and the course of treatment.

Hemangioma

The nature of this disease has not yet been fully determined, which makes it difficult to cure. Hemangioma refers to the formation of red spots on the body that either disappear on their own or are removed surgically. Many doctors agree that the cause of hemangioma is the improper formation of blood vessels while the baby is forming in the mother’s abdomen.

Kidney diseases

If redness of the skin and swelling around the eyes of a newborn are observed mainly in the morning, it may be due to inflammatory processes occurring in the kidneys. In case of serious disturbances in the functioning of internal organs, the following are observed:

temperature increase;
interruptions in urination;
gagging.

Cardiovascular diseases

Heart disease can cause various complications, including redness of the eyelids. To identify the problem and plan a further course of treatment, you need to consult a doctor. He will conduct a full examination of the body, make a diagnosis and determine the best method of treatment.

Diseases of the liver and ducts

Inflammation of the skin around the eyes is also associated with interruptions in liver function, which are accompanied by symptoms such as:

the child often feels sick;
constant belching;
the skin takes on an unhealthy, yellowish tint.

Injuries

Mechanical injuries received from blows or contact with sharp objects often provoke the formation of swelling and redness. It is recommended to seek help from an ophthalmologist.

Causes of the condition and additional symptoms

Hemangioma

Redness of the eyelid immediately after birth is often caused by a benign neoplasm, which, in fact, is a mole. In this case, you can notice not only redness, but also an increase in the size of the eyelids. The area of redness hurts on palpation. Mostly, after a certain time, the skin acquires a healthy shade, and the hemangioma disappears on its own. However, situations where education is growing cannot be ruled out.

Allergic reactions and inflammatory pathologies

If your baby's eyelids are red, it may be due to an allergy. Often, young patients develop undesirable reactions to pollen, breast milk, and dust. At the same time, children do not experience pain or discomfort when moving their visual organs. However, if redness is accompanied by pain, then we can talk about inflammatory diseases.

Blepharitis and redness

One of the additional symptoms of the disease may be rapid visual fatigue.
It is a chronic inflammation of the edges of the eyelids. The disease can be triggered by a lack of vitamins in the body, helminthic infection, subcutaneous mites, and insufficient hygiene of the visual organs. In addition to the fact that the eyes turn red, other signs develop:

fatigue of the visual organs;
itching and burning;
blurred vision.

Conjunctivitis

This pathology is characterized by inflammation of the eye mucosa. If there is concomitant injury or infection, the inflammatory process can also affect the cornea. With the development of conjunctivitis in children, moodiness, increased production of tears, and photophobia are observed. Young patients constantly rub their eyes with their hands. As the disease progresses, swelling of the eyelids occurs, and pus may be discharged. Sometimes accompanying symptoms manifest themselves in the form of cough.

Dacryocystitis

It is an inflammatory process in the lacrimal sac. A variety of developmental pathologies can provoke the disease. In addition to the fact that the baby's upper and lower eyelids turn red, they also become swollen. Often a mucous or mucopurulent secretion is released, and crusts form in the corners of the visual organs.

With pathology, children's tears flow not only while crying, but also in a calm state.

Diagnostics

If the skin in the upper part of the eye is red or the eyes are very swollen, immediately seek help from a doctor. You should not diagnose yourself, since the symptoms of some diseases may be similar to each other, plus one disease can trigger the appearance of another.

An incorrect diagnosis, followed by incorrect treatment, will only worsen the situation, which is not necessary for either you or your child.

Prevention

In order not to provoke spots and redness of the child’s upper eyelid, parents need to pay sufficient attention to the hygiene of the little patient. The reduction in contact between the baby’s hands and his visual organs is also subject to control. It is necessary to monitor the child’s behavior, changes in his mood, and the occurrence of any unwanted symptoms. If they appear, it is important to consult a pediatrician. Doctors recommend spending time with your child in the fresh air more often and paying close attention to the introduction of complementary foods. In addition, an important preventive measure is systematic visits to an ophthalmologist and monitoring the visual functions of a small patient.

Causes and treatment of hemorrhage in the eye in newborns

Hemorrhage in the eye of newborns in the retinal area is common, and treatment tactics differ among different specialists. In foreign literature one can find data on an analytical study of the frequency and possible causes of this pathology in children.

The data of some researchers are of interest to domestic specialists - as material that allows us to judge the prevalence of this disease among newborns. This information can be found on the Internet on specialized websites.

Causes of hemorrhage in the eye in newborns

Bergen R. and Margolis S. examined the fundus of hundreds of healthy children in the first day of life, and retinal hemorrhages were found in 35% of babies. Scientists have suggested that in most cases, the cause of eye hemorrhage in newborns was the chosen obstetric procedure, namely the use of forceps during labor; Also, a similar complication often occurred in children whose labor took a long time. In newborns whose mothers had undergone a cesarean section, pathology was diagnosed significantly less frequently.

Alex Schoenfeld provides slightly different statistics based on a study of the use of labor stimulants during labor. He found that when dinoprostone is used, in 40% of cases, newborns experience hemorrhage in the eye, and in 28% of children, retinal hemorrhage was detected when labor was stimulated with oxytocin.

M. Vaughn Emerson examined 149 newborns in the first thirty hours after their birth. Babies were examined every couple of weeks until symptoms resolved, and intraretinal bleeding was detected in 34% of cases. In a number of cases, these were hemorrhages in the form of dots in one of the eyes; there were bilateral total hemorrhages with a white center. The number of hemorrhages increased when a vacuum was used during childbirth - this is 75% of cases, and the comparison was made with normal vaginal birth. In a study of births involving cesarean section, the complication rate was only 7. An association was also found between gestational age and the incidence of intraretinal hemorrhage. With an increase in the first parameter, hemorrhages in the eye in newborns were more common. A couple of weeks after birth, hemorrhages resolved in 86% of cases; after four weeks, the researchers did not find any symptoms of hemorrhage in all babies in the study group.

O. Skalpe, K. Egge and JM Maltau conducted a study of the brains of babies who were found to have extensive hemorrhage in the eye using computed tomography. When examining ten newborns, no changes were found in the children's brain tissue.

Treatment of hemorrhage in the eye in newborns

In children, during the first month of life, it is quite common to notice hemorrhage in the eye. In most cases, treatment for hemorrhage in the eye in newborns is not carried out, since the symptom does not pose any threat to the further growth and development of the baby, in addition, it goes away on its own, and the vision of such children develops normally. During clinical examination within a month, hemorrhage is uncommon, since by this age it most often goes away completely. The medical literature does not describe an association between neonatal retinal hemorrhage and cerebral hemorrhage.

Author of the article:

Mochalov Pavel Alexandrovich |
Doctor of Medical Sciences therapist Education: Moscow Medical Institute named after. I. M. Sechenov, specialty - “General Medicine” in 1991, in 1993 “Occupational diseases”, in 1996 “Therapy”. Our authors