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Original poster

Worried - Please help

42 replies

CoteDAzur · 11/01/2011 21:17

DS has one red eye for a few days, and it has been getting steadily worse. Today, I took him to paediatrician who said it is probably viral, said to wash three times a day, and prescribed Vitamin A cream to use if it gets redder & antibiotic drops to use in case of yellow discharge / puss.

Tonight it was definitely redder, so we put in the Vitamin A cream before bedtime. He has been rubbing his eye and sceaming ever since. (He didn't seem bothered by it before)

Meanwhile, DH noticed what looks like a spot in this red blotch that now covers half of his eye. Does anyone know what is might be?

I've Googled myself to near-panic. Please come and tell me i am being silly and children have red eyes all the time.

OP posts:
alypaly · 12/01/2011 00:32

it sounds as if it is an ulcerated cornea. I would honestly get him to an emergency eye department as soon as possible.

is it similar to thisdrbortz.com/topics/80-Corneal/Image/corneal_ulcer_graphic.jpg

Original poster
CoteDAzur · 12/01/2011 15:39

Ophthalmo saw him today and said it is a garden variety "boring" Hmm conjunctivitis & prescribed antibiotic drops. He said the little spot / wart thing is due to the infection is nothing to worry about.

I would have preferred a test to confirm diagnosis but I should probably stop being paranoid about now.

I looked at many photos of corneal ulcers online and DS's spot looks nothing like those. It is like a raised pimple with puss in it.

OP posts:
winnybella · 12/01/2011 18:42

Oh, good. It should clear up really quickly with ABs.

DaftApeth · 12/01/2011 19:25

Phew!

Original poster
CoteDAzur · 12/01/2011 20:44

Thank you for the info & help Smile

OP posts:
Sidge · 12/01/2011 21:54

Glad you have some answers - hope he's better quickly Smile

alypaly · 12/01/2011 23:48

glad hes seen an opthalmo cote. hope he is better soon Smile

Original poster
CoteDAzur · 13/01/2011 22:27

Sorry to bang on about this, but his eye is still as bad if not worse.

It is still as red and the spot is bigger today.

Can it be a fungus infection which will not be affected by antibiotics?

OP posts:
winnybella · 13/01/2011 22:35

Well, the redness might take a couple of days to disappear, I think. Don't know about fungus- did you google? Does it look like one? In that case, if not better by tomorrow (which, tbh, it should be, even if not all gone) I would call the ophtalmo again. Or just go to A&E.

alypaly · 14/01/2011 10:14

i think you need a second opinion. a wart like thing in his eye really does sound like a corneal ulcer.

mommmmyof2 · 14/01/2011 10:36

Is his eye still that red today? Same sort of thing happened to be last year, I rubbed my eye one morning and then it started to get red throughout the day.It was not too obviouse but left it, never got better so got some eye drops from the doctor and it got ten times worse!!
Both my eyes were squinty and red and pouring of water.Horribe, I had to make anappointment in the end to go the eye clinic.But If his eyes still that bad today I would take him somewhere, you can not be too careful with eyes.
You just never no what is going on, poor little man, hope he gets better soon.

Original poster
CoteDAzur · 15/01/2011 22:54

I ended up taking DS back to his paed yesterday. She thinks that it is a viral conjunctivitis, with the "spot" a common sign of the infection. Also, his nose started running - not clear but mostly yellow gunk (sorry for tmi) so viral diagnosis sounds credible.

She said that if it were anything worse (like the infection reaching the cornea), DS would be in extreme pain and he would be photosensitive and hence squinting. He dances about laughing for most of the day, so it's pretty obvious that he is in no pain and there is no squinting either.

Despite viral diagnosis, we are continuing with antibiotic drops to prevent "surinfection" (not sure if is is the word in English - basically, to prevent a bacterial infection that might follow). Paed said it would last 10 days or so. We are approaching 10 days and it is not any better Sad

OP posts:
Original poster
CoteDAzur · 15/01/2011 22:55

Mommmm - How long did it take for your red eye to get better?

OP posts:
starfishmummy · 15/01/2011 23:21

I had viral conjunctivitis in the summer and it did take a long time to clear.I'd say it was a good month, and even then there was still some discharge in the mornings. I was also seeing an eye specialist every few days at first (then weekly); so my advice would be to try to get your LO seen again.

blinks · 16/01/2011 01:25

also make sure you're vigilant with the snot situation... often kids wipe up the way and snot goes into/around eye, making infection worse.

regular boiled water soaked cotton wool wiping (one sweep inner to outer eye then bin)and treat both eyed with drops.

Original poster
CoteDAzur · 16/01/2011 07:52

It is slightly but noticeably better this morning. One side of the iris in his right eye is still red but a more pinkish color rather than the blood-red that was there for all of the past week.

OP posts:
mommmmyof2 · 16/01/2011 10:23

My eyes were bad for over 2 weeks, but they were really bad for about 5 days where I just could not see, It weren't very nice at all had to have time off work.
Eventually when I did go back my eyes were still not great and they still were puffy and I had blurred vision.

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