Useless Doctors, please help!! 7 week baby’s eye!!

[PurpleRayne89]

My son is 7 weeks old. He had conjunctivitis a day or so after birth which they treated with drops and then ointment. Each time it came back. I was then given drops again, the gunk cleared but the swelling above his eye had remained. It looks red and puffy. It’s been consistent throughout the entire 7 weeks. All doctors have done is prescribe prescribe prescribe. Given his age I don’t want him to have a cocktail of drugs before he’s even one.

Has anyone seen anything like this before? What would you suggest? I have a 6-8 week baby check up tomorrow where I’ll be mentioning it again. If they again fob me off I’m thinking of heading to baby A&E until they see him for further investigation.

Any help, advice, support is extremely appreciated.

-Mother at wits end!

@Carrotsticks23 it’s probably a poor picture as irl it’s very puffy. Shows more when he’s crying as his eye cannot lift properly due to the bulge. The cocktail of drugs wasn’t literal. I meant 3 different types of antibiotics for such a small child is like a cocktail of drugs.

It's the exact location of his lacrimal gland, the gland that produces tears, so potentially some sort of inflammation of that as a result of conjunctivitis or blockage to the gland. Do you have a photo of the other eye so we can see the difference? See if you can get seen in the eye clinic. It doesn't really look like preseptal cellulitis, I would expect that to be more diffuse and red. His eyelids and conjunctiva all look okay in that photo

I don't think you've had the run around, he's had a suspected infection and so they've given him antibiotics. That's not really the run around. Mention it tomorrow and see if you can get a referral to the eye doctors

@underneaththeash

OP - I'd want to rule out a pre-septal orbital cellulitis. I'm an optometrist with a further qualification in children's vision. It's not conjunctivitis at the moment and a blocked tear duct wouldn't cause that swelling.

Do you have an eye casualty nearby? Sometimes they only open Monday to Friday. It will wait until the morning.
It's pretty pointless going to a regular A&E on a Sunday afternoon.

Yes agree this needs to be checked

[quote PurpleRayne89]@Wagglerock thanks for responding. It’s strange they’ve prescribed so much. I’m really fed up. Literally no patience from them at all. We have 2 cats. I thought he could have an allergy but it was swollen when I was in the hospital for 3 days and has remained as so since I returned home. I will suggest that tomorrow to see what they say.[/quote]
It could still be a cat allergy, you may well have had some cat hairs on you or your belongings whilst in hospital. It doesn’t look serious, doesn’t even look like conjunctivitis. When he goes for his check up tomorrow discuss it with the doctor.

@Carrotsticks23

It's the exact location of his lacrimal gland, the gland that produces tears, so potentially some sort of inflammation of that as a result of conjunctivitis or blockage to the gland. Do you have a photo of the other eye so we can see the difference? See if you can get seen in the eye clinic. It doesn't really look like preseptal cellulitis, I would expect that to be more diffuse and red. His eyelids and conjunctiva all look okay in that photo

I don't think you've had the run around, he's had a suspected infection and so they've given him antibiotics. That's not really the run around. Mention it tomorrow and see if you can get a referral to the eye doctors

It's unwise and dangerous to post on a health care topic if you you have no idea what you're talking about.

Please don't.

OP - If you don't get anywhere tomorrow, would you PM me please.

@underneaththeashhiya thank you for getting back. I will keep you updated on whether I am being referred on. I shall PM you as suggested.

Came on to say to be wary of peri orbital cellulitis.
My DD had this and was very poorly.

She was misdiagnosed and given drops until suddenly the swelling was so bad her eye barely opened.

I had seen two doctors and I suggested the peri orbital cellulitis as I had previously seen a thread here discussing it. They were dismissive.

In the end I took my daughter to A and E and it turned out to be very much an emergency.

Admitted for IV antibiotics as this can continue very badly if not treated. I really wish people would not put off a parent who feels something is not right from attending A and E.
Had I not taken my daughter and listened to the two doctors the consequences would have been dire.

Op, I am not saying this is what your child has but just to be aware of the condition and if you feel you need more specialised help be confident to take your baby to hospital.

Hope it all resolved well for you soon.

@Blackopal thanks for providing your opinion. I am glad to hear your situation was resolved. It’s a shame how dismissive doctors can be. If I feel I am not getting anywhere tomorrow I will head down to paediatrics and hopefully they won’t fob me off. They keep on about conjunctivitis but it’s clearly not the only things happening. This wait and see attitude is what I mean when I say the run around.

Thanks again.

I think sometimes GPs can be so under pressure and time poor they go for the most obvious solution. I know they saw me as an overly worried mom armed with Google.
For reference this is an image I took of my daughter's eye at the beginning of the cellulitis

This was where we ended up

Glad you are going to pediatrics tomorrow. I hope once you get seen by the right people you are able to get a resolution for your little one.

@Wagglerock

I'm surprised they prescribed anything tbh, I saw the Dr about DD who had conjunctivitis for a couple of weeks and was told they couldn't prescribe till 1yo and just to keep washing with cool boiled water.

Is it bothering him? Could the puffyness be an allergy - any pets?

Same here

@Blackopal the first pic you uploaded it looks exactly like that. Not as red but his skin is darker so less obvious, especially in the pic I uploaded. It looks more like what you and another suggested rather than anything else. Has made me anxious and more motivated to not back down until something is done about it. The picture where it had become worse looks terrible. Poor baby. Just breaks my heart this unnecessary suffering. I really hope the doctor tomorrow is receptive to my views and concerns.

I def don't want to cause you any extra worry, just wanted to make sure you knew of the condition. I am forever grateful to the mumsnetter whose thread I found when I was googling for answers to my daughter's eye.

The history is different as you mentioned your son has been dealing with this for weeks. The two pictures I posted are around 16 hours apart and everything happened very quickly with us.

I am sure pediatrics will be happy to see your baby, especially as he is so young.

Good luck with everything

@underneaththeash. I do know what I am talking about, I have seen and managed quite a bit of cellulitis, including periorbital cellulitis. I don't think that looks like a spreading infection, the eyelid isnt red, the eye isn't puffy or closed. If it is an infection it appears more localised. However OP has also had 3 courses of antibiotics, which I would expect to have Although I appreciate I haven't seen Ops baby in person hence why I have advised she tries to get a referral to be seen in the eye clinic. I'm not going to go panicking OP based on a picture on the Internet that doesn't look like periorbital cellulitis.

@Blackopal you haven’t scared me or anything only given me something to think about. I’m not an anxious person so please do not apologise. I will raise with my Doctor. I am kiwi glad your baby is better and doing well so thank you so much for your kind works and input.

@underneaththeash @Carrotsticks23 I guess it’s the internet and we will all have something different to contribute. Let’s just agreed to disagree and I can discuss with my doctor. All responses have been helpful and given me something to think about. So thank you both for considering different things and sharing your opinions with me.

I will update once it’s all been figured out. I’m sure you will all be interested to know what the cause is. Also, I’m sure someone in future will see this thread and find it useful.

My son had diagnosed blocked tear ducts from birth which caused swelling and constant discharge. Didn't ever really seem to bother him but I used to hate having to clean his eyes because he hated that part.
He got an appointment around 11.5 months to have an operation to clear his ducts, but this was cancelled due to covid just starting.
No joke, about 13 months old his eyes completely cleared up and we haven't had a problem since. So glad it got cancelled. He is 2.5 yrs old now.
If you think it could be anything similar, just wait it out and keep on top of it.

[quote Carrotsticks23]@underneaththeash. I do know what I am talking about, I have seen and managed quite a bit of cellulitis, including periorbital cellulitis. I don't think that looks like a spreading infection, the eyelid isnt red, the eye isn't puffy or closed. If it is an infection it appears more localised. However OP has also had 3 courses of antibiotics, which I would expect to have Although I appreciate I haven't seen Ops baby in person hence why I have advised she tries to get a referral to be seen in the eye clinic. I'm not going to go panicking OP based on a picture on the Internet that doesn't look like periorbital cellulitis.[/quote]
I didn't say it was, but it looks like a couple I've seen in very young children who have been treated with topical antibiotics and remember you won't get the same level of chemosis in a 7 week old.

I can say with absolute 100% certainty though that it is not a "problem with the lacrimal gland". Lacrimal gland problems are extremely rare in children, they would cause diffuse chemosis in both the top and lower lid and unilateral problems would obviously not cause watering . especially with a white bulbar conjunctiva.

@October2020

This is neither an accident nor an emergency so don't do that.

Does he cry tears from that eye? They can have immature tear ducts whixh can cause similar.

This!

I had the same with my DS. In the end it was a tear duct and cleared up around 12 weeks by itself.

@Myunicornis hey, glad your baby’s eye cleared up. I guess the cancellation was a blessing in disguise. I’m still unsure of what it might be. I’m going to keep it clean. The doctor today completed his 6-8 week check in complete silence no didn’t communicate with me at all. I found this odd. I asked whether a blocked tear duct could cause swelling he said no. I asked what it could be, he said it’s not conjunctivitis so not answering my question. He’s apparently supposed to be the next baby doctor in the area. He left a lot to be desired unfortunately.