Puffy eyes in a child, what to do?
If you notice swelling near your child’s eyes in the morning, you don’t have to panic right away, but it’s better to calmly figure out the problem that has arisen. After all, edema is different, and the reasons that cause them are also. Therefore, there is no need to worry in advance.
And if the morning swelling of the eyelids, moreover, disappeared without a trace by the evening and the next morning the child got up in good health, you should forget about the problem. But this does not always happen, therefore, as they say, you need to understand the topic.
Types of edema and their symptoms
It is known that there are two types of edema: general and local.
How to check what type of edema? Easier than simple – for this you need to press the skin fold between your fingers, or on the front of the lower leg with your finger. If the dent lasts for some time and the place where the finger is pressed is well visualized, then this is a general edema. And most often it is formed due to urinary retention in the body.
To make sure that the kidney disease in the baby is not the cause of everything, it is necessary to observe his weight, how often and what daily amount of urine. If his evening weight is significantly higher than his morning weight with normal fluid intake, and urination is rare, urine is cloudy, then there is a reason to immediately consult a doctor. Because such an organ as the kidneys is designed to perform the function of removing fluid from the body, and if they cannot cope with this, it means that they are sick.
Although it often happens that children eat salted food, drink a lot of liquids, and even sit at a computer or TV all day. In such a situation, no kidneys can cope!
Another serious cause of general swelling can be heart disease, but here the manifestation of an external factor is always accompanied by shortness of breath, palpitations or heavy breathing.
If such symptoms occur, you should immediately call a doctor at home! After all, these may be the first signs of such formidable ailments as kidney or heart failure.
In addition, the reasons for fluid retention in the body are:
non-compliance with the daily routine;
fixed lifestyle;
unbalanced nutrition;
consumption of salted food;
the initial stage of diabetes;
drug allergy.
Local edema appears after prolonged crying of the baby, with conjunctivitis, when the skin of the eyelids comes into contact with an allergen, for example, eye drops. In this case, by eliminating the local cause, we will eliminate the swelling of the eyelids.
At the same time, swelling under the eyes of a child can be explained by a genetic predisposition and, apart from unaesthetic external manifestations, does not pose any threat to health. And a similar condition is necessarily observed in any of the closest relatives of the baby.
Edema also occurs from overwork, when after a long sitting in front of a monitor or reading books, the eyes begin to inflame or itch.
Sufficient sleep is essential for the good health of children. If the baby does not get enough sleep, “bags” under the eyes may appear. And if, by your standards, he sleeps a sufficient amount of time, then this does not mean that the child gets enough sleep. It happens that he needs a much larger amount of time to sleep, because each individual organism is strictly individual. Try not to wake him up and see when a natural awakening comes. This is the time your baby needs to sleep.
Hot weather can also affect the occurrence of edema of the eyelids. Therefore, before making any decision, it is necessary to clearly understand the cause of swelling of the eyelids.
Treatment
In case of edema after sleep, they appear systematically, a thorough examination by a pediatrician is necessary. The doctor will prescribe the necessary tests, the results of which will tell you about the existing pathology. In this case, hospital treatment is necessary.
If the doctor does not find any pathology or disease, then the parents should completely reconsider the lifestyle and nutrition of the baby. Most likely, the child does not get enough sleep, or is little in the fresh air, and, possibly, does not eat well.
First of all, it is necessary to limit the child’s stay in front of a computer or TV monitor, to instill in him the need for an active lifestyle. After all, it’s not for nothing that the saying goes: “In motion is life!”
Nutrition needs to be taken seriously.
First, limit your intake of salty foods.
Secondly, introduce whole cereals, fresh fruits and vegetables into the diet.
Thirdly, be sure to include vegetable and cereal soups, vegetable stews in the baby’s menu.
Try to include more stewed, boiled vegetables in your diet. Consider the fact that a healthy child’s body needs about 1,5 liters of fluid per day.
In addition, teach your baby to go to bed at the same time, preferably before 22-00. It is the period of time until 12-00 midnight that is extremely important for maintaining health, since at this time the greatest amount of the hormone melatonin is formed, without which the body cannot exist.
It is noteworthy that not a single period of time of the day can claim a similar intensity of production of such an important neurohormone, the lack of which leads to many diseases.