To treat a sty in a baby or child, it is recommended to place a warm compress on the eye 3 to 4 times a day to help alleviate the symptoms of the sty, reducing the discomfort felt by the child.
Normally, a child’s stye heals on its own after about 5 days and, therefore, it is not necessary to use antibiotic ointments to treat the problem. However, if symptoms do not improve after 1 week, it is recommended to consult your pediatrician to start more specific treatment, which may include antibiotic ointments, for example.
In the case of a sty in a baby under 3 months of age, it is always advisable to see a pediatrician before starting any type of treatment at home.
How to make warm compresses
To make warm compresses, simply fill a glass with warm filtered water and check the temperature, so that it is not too hot to avoid burning your baby’s eye. If the water is at the appropriate temperature, you should dip a clean gauze in the water, remove the excess and place it on the eye with the stye for around 5 to 10 minutes.
Warm compresses should be placed on the baby or child’s eye about 3 to 4 times a day, and it’s a great tip to place them when the baby is sleeping or breastfeeding.
See another way to make compresses with medicinal plants to speed up recovery.
How to speed up stye recovery
During the treatment of a baby’s stye, it is necessary to take some precautions, such as:
- Do not squeeze or burst the stye, as this may worsen the infection;
- Use new gauze each time you apply a warm compress, as the bacteria remains in the gauze, making the infection worse;
- Use new gauze for each eye, if there is a stye in both eyes, to prevent the bacteria from spreading;
- Wash your hands after applying a warm compress to your baby, to avoid catching the bacteria;
- Wash the baby’s hands several times a day, as he may touch the stye and get it from someone else;
- Clean the eye with warm gauze when the pus from the stye starts to come out to remove all the pus and clean the baby’s eye.
A baby with a sty can go to daycare or, in the case of a child, to school, as there is no risk of passing the inflammation on to other children. However, it is recommended to apply a warm compress before he leaves the house and when he returns, to alleviate discomfort.
Furthermore, whenever possible, the teacher, or other responsible adult, should be asked to be careful to prevent the child from playing in sandboxes or dirt playgrounds, as they could end up putting their hands in their eyes and making things worse. inflammation.
When to go to the pediatrician
Although the stye can be treated at home in most cases, it is recommended to go to the pediatrician when the stye appears in babies under 3 months of age, takes more than 8 days to disappear or when a fever above 38ºC appears.
Furthermore, if the stye reappears shortly after disappearing, it is also advisable to consult a doctor, as it may indicate the presence of a microorganism that needs to be eliminated with a specific remedy.
