Baby's eye mucus is so yellow, what's going on?

It is a very common phenomenon that babies have a lot of yellow eye mucus. This is probably a symptom caused by conjunctivitis, neonatal dacryocystitis, gonococcal pyokaryosis, corneal ulcer, and entropion. For different symptoms, the treatment and conditioning methods required are also different. Below, we will introduce in detail the main reasons why babies have excessive and yellow eye mucus.

After the baby is born, many parents are afraid that the child will catch a cold, so the room temperature at home is often high, and bacteria are easy to multiply. In addition, the newborn will unconsciously rub his eyes with his hands, which can easily lead to symptoms of conjunctivitis such as increased eye secretions and conjunctival congestion. If it is a serious bacterial infection, or a cold and fever occurs, symptoms such as increased secretions, increased tears, and congestion of the eyes will be more obvious, and may also cause redness and swelling of the eyelid skin.

2. Neonatal dacryocystitis

Neonatal dacryocystitis is caused by blockage of the tear duct and nasolacrimal duct that excrete tears. Because the embryonic residual membrane at the lower end of the nasolacrimal duct has not degenerated, it blocks the lower end of the nasolacrimal duct, and tears and bacteria accumulate in the lacrimal sac under the skin at the inner corner of the eye, causing secondary infection. About 2% to 4% of full-term newborns have this residual membrane, most of which will shrink on their own within 4 to 6 weeks.

Gonococcal pyophthalmia is caused by gonococcal infection, with an incubation period of 2 to 4 days. It is often caused by mothers suffering from gonorrhea, and the newborn is infected when passing through the birth canal. Both eyes are affected at the same time, manifesting as acute purulent conjunctivitis. Usually the child's eyelids will be extremely red and swollen, almost unable to open, and a large amount of pus-like eye discharge will be produced continuously. If not treated properly, corneal ulcers may occur, leading to corneal perforation and even the risk of blindness.

Corneal ulcers can also cause babies to have a lot of eye mucus, and their consequences may be the most serious. Corneal ulcers are mostly caused by accidental collision or when the baby unconsciously rubs his eyes with his hands, foreign objects, fingers or nails damage the corresponding part of the cornea, thereby becoming infected by bacteria. Babies who live in an unclean environment and have poor resistance are susceptible to this disease. Because of the pain, children often cry, are afraid of light and shed tears, are unwilling to open their eyes, have red eyeballs, and have secretions. Most parents cannot find the lesions, and even if they find small white spots on the black pupils of their children, they rarely realize the seriousness of the matter.

5. Entropion

This situation is relatively rare. Some babies have incompletely developed facial bones, especially those with wide and flat noses. The skin of the upper eyelid often extends down to the inner corner of the eye, covering part of the eye tissue and even part of the sclera. This causes the eyelid and eyelashes to move inward, causing friction and irritation to the eyeball, causing discomfort, and resulting in symptoms such as excessive tears and secretions.