Child with Frequent Eye Discharge

[Pestle]

I have a little one (21 months) who I swear has thick, chunky matter coming from one or the other of her eyes every other week. I do exclude for eye discharge but I hate how often I'm sending her home for this. It's back again today so I texted the parent a picture and said I blotted it up and if it reappears she'll need to be picked up.

It's usually in the center of the eye instead of at the corner, in blobs, and she often is weeping from the center of one or the other of her eyes.

I had another kid who would literally blow snot out his tear ducts every time he sneezed. His eyes were always crusty. The doctor took him off dairy and it cleared up. This current child does have lactose intolerance, or did, but parents have her back on dairy now and digestion-wise she's doing pretty well.

Are some kids just forever jamming their fingers into their eyes and getting conjunctivitis? Do you think I should recommend they see an allergist? Any other ideas?

[Pestle]

Also, she frequently has red puffiness or a purple ring under one eye or the other, but often not the same eye that happens to be weeping/producing discharge.

[Ariana]

This was my daughter before we discovered her sensitivity to dairy.

[Blackcat31]

Constant drainage does not seem normal. Atleast I've never seen a child like that so who knows but I would definitely recommend to the parents that they consult an optometrist or their pediatrician.

Here is some good info about deciphering what eye drainage "could" mean...

https://www.verywellhealth.com/eye-mucus-types-3422108

[Pestle]

Constant drainage does not seem normal. Atleast I've never seen a child like that so who knows but I would definitely recommend to the parents that they consult an optometrist or their pediatrician.

Here is some good info about deciphering what eye drainage "could" mean...

https://www.verywellhealth.com/eye-mucus-types-3422108

Blocked tear ducts seems to fit this perfectly -- globs of pale mucus, watery eyes, puffiness that comes and goes. Apparently a small percentage of kids are born with it and don't outgrow it.

I'm texting back and forth with the parent, who says the child was born with blocked tear ducts and that they asked the nurse practitioner the last time she was sent home with discharge, and the practitioner said children this old don't still have blocked tear ducts, and prescribed an antibiotic. :confused: They are gonna try again tomorrow.

[megoddess444]

I have a child with the same issue. In her case it’s a blocked tear duct, that they hope she will correct with age. It’s gross, but not conjunctivitis.

[Blackcat31]

From my understanding not all children born with a blocked duct just outgrow it. Apparently most do but not all.

This child could be one of those that simply never outgrew it. Especially if they didn't really do much about it when in the beginning.

"It is estimated that up to 30% of newborns are born with a blocked tear duct, but in over 90% of these children, the symptoms resolve by their first birthday."

"If your child's blocked tear duct does not go away on its own, especially by the time he is 9 to 12 months old, additional treatment by nasolacrimal duct probing may be necessary."

https://www.verywellhealth.com/blocked-tear-duct-2634054

From everything I've read so far, it says older kids can have blocked tear ducts, although rare, it DOES occur. It may or may not be serious.

https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/tear-duct-obstruct-surgery.html

[hwichlaz]

mine had a blocked tearduct, but it was treated. I was to use a warm compress first, then massage the duct, twice a day. If that didn't work they'd have reemed it out.

[Pestle]

The pediatrician said it was probably just allergies but that it didn't seem to be bothering her so they weren't going to test for it. :confused: I am liking this pediatrician less and less. I explained to the parent that, even if the pediatrician said allergies are causing the discharge, I will send her home every time she has thick/opaque discharge, because I can't tell to look at it whether it's a bacterial infection that the other kids could pick up. Parent was kind of surprised but understanding. I hate to use the inconvenience of frequent exclusion from care to bully them into getting this diagnosed, but seriously, they need to push this with a doctor who is actually interested in figuring the problem out. I'm not playing with eye goop.

[Blackcat31]

The pediatrician said it was probably just allergies but that it didn't seem to be bothering her so they weren't going to test for it. :confused: I am liking this pediatrician less and less. I explained to the parent that, even if the pediatrician said allergies are causing the discharge, I will send her home every time she has thick/opaque discharge, because I can't tell to look at it whether it's a bacterial infection that the other kids could pick up. Parent was kind of surprised but understanding. I hate to use the inconvenience of frequent exclusion from care to bully them into getting this diagnosed, but seriously, they need to push this with a doctor who is actually interested in figuring the problem out. I'm not playing with eye goop.

I'm sure it feels like bullying but I agree with you, I wouldn't deal with continuous discharge like that and if parents don't seek a second opinion, their choice warrants exclusion.

That's all you can really do to get parents to see an alternate perspective. I mean I get trusting your doctor but there are times when you should question them.