multiple styes

[slowbumper]

My DD(4) has been suffering with multiple styes, she has been seen by the GP and has had chloramphenicol which did nothing and fusidic acid drops. These seemed to help but as soon as the course stopped they came back.

She has been referred to the eye hospital but they have said that it is at least a two month wait.

We are doing hot compresses and eye hygiene at least 4 times a day but this seems to be making no difference. This has been going on since mid December and she currently has 5 styes over both eyes and they look so sore. It feels cruel to make her wait 2 months and they seem to be getting worse.

Any advice?

hopeful bump

I used to get loads. Absolutely hated getting them and the drops dm used to get for me were worse than the styes!
All I can say is that I grew out of them. I can't remember at what point I stopped getting multiple ones, but I wasn't very old. I occasionally get them now, but very rarely.

Thanks @margaretThursday, she seems to keep getting more before the first ones have cleared up. It is good to know other people have had multiple and grown out of them. Everything online seems to imply it is unusual to have them in both eyes and she has three on one and two on the other.

I definitely had them in both eyes, and multiple ones too. The worst one I remember was underneath my upper lip.

Problem is that when you have them you want to keep rubbing your eyes, as it feels like there's something in your eye, which spreads it.

Poor little thing. Are they actually styes rather than chalazion? Could you post a picture?

Oh and what lid hygiene routine are you doing?

Could it be blepharitis? My wee one has this and kept having styes over and over on both eyes from age 3 to 4.5. The way to get on top of it is lid hygiene. At first we wiped every morning and evening with cotton wool pads dipped in cooled boiled water with a drop of baby shampoo (fresh pad for each eye). Now we only need to do it once a week to keep on top of it. You can also buy special wipes for it, but the optician recommended the, much cheaper, method above.

We are using specific wipes for eyelid hygiene and wiping them four times a day. The GP has said styles will see if I can post a pic.

Your poor DD, I've never seen a child with that many at once.

I'd reduce the lid wipes to twice a day, it can actually irritate more.
I'd also ask the GP for some more antibiotics, they can be more effective in blepharitis after doing lid hygiene for a couple of weeks, but also a very small amount rubbed gently along the lid margin for a few days.

There's nothing else that your GP could really prescribe in a child her age.