10-Year-Old Boy Nearly Blinded! Do Not Drip Eye Drops Indiscriminately, Especially Children

With the widespread use of electronic products, children's eyes are facing unprecedented pressure, dry eyes, eye fatigue, redness, inflammation... etc.

In order to relieve these conditions of children's eyes, some parents began to use Eye Drops for their children.

But what parents don't know is that adults who use eye drops that are fine may not be able to use them for children. If they are used incorrectly, not only can they not protect the eyes, but they may also damage the eyes and may even lead to blindness.

Not long ago, a 10-year-old boy almost lost his sight due to improper use of an Internet celebrity eye drop.

The boy suffered from allergic conjunctivitis, and the parents went to the pharmacy to buy tobramycin and dexamethasone eye drops for the child. Dropped three times a day for half a year.

The boy in the back had sore eyes, occasional headaches and vomiting. Parents think it's stressful, just rest and rest.

But after a period of time, it still didn't get better, so they went to the hospital for an examination. The doctor said that the child had been using hormone eye drops for a long time, and had increased intraocular pressure and slight cataracts. The child's symptoms were gradually relieved after the timely use of intraocular pressure-lowering medicines.

Therefore, I would like to remind the majority of parents: it is necessary to scientifically use eye drops for children!

First of all, parents must first understand the types of eye drops.

The Most Common Types Of Eye Drops Are As Follows.

Category 1: Relief From Fatigue.

Eye drops to relieve eye fatigue are generally artificial tears that simulate natural tears and have zero preservatives, such as polyethylene glycol eye drops, carbomer eye drops and sodium hyaluronate eye drops, etc.

Category 2: Antiviral.

Antiviral eye drops are used when the eyes are accidentally infected with a virus. Acyclovir, ganciclovir eye drops or gel are used more often.

Category 3: Antibacterial.

These eye drops are antibiotics and are suitable for bacterial infections of the eyes. Commonly used antibacterial eye drops such as fluoroquinolones and aminoglycosides, as well as tobramycin that can be used by children.

Category 4: Anti-allergic Category.

For the treatment of allergic conjunctivitis, it is necessary to use anti-allergic eye drops such as artificial tears without preservatives, azelastine, olopatadine, and non-steroids.

Category 5: Hormones.

This kind of mainly has a significant effect on non-infectious inflammation, but long-term use is likely to cause hormonal glaucoma and hormonal cataract.

Category 6: Mydriatic Eye Drops.

This type of eye drops is mainly based on low-concentration atropine, which can dilate the pupil and is mainly used to diagnose myopia, astigmatism and other mydriasis.

Understand the types of eye drops, but also know how to drop and understand the toxicity of various eye drops.

How Should The Eye Drops Be Dropped?

Many people put eye drops directly on the eyeballs. Actually, this trick is wrong.

Because such eye drops will make the eyes blink and tear constantly, which will speed up the discharge of the eye drops and reduce the efficacy of the medicine.

The correct drip method is to wash your hands first, then tilt your head back, and then use your fingers to scrape the lower eyelid to form a conjunctival sac, and then drop the eye drops in this conjunctival sac, not on the eyeball.

At the same time, pay attention to the expiration date of eye drops.

Before unpacking, the storage time can be longer, and after unpacking, try not to exceed one month. For one-day packs, use within 24 hours. For the simultaneous use of different eye drops, the interval should be 5 minutes. Eye drops can only be used for personal use, and it is best to keep them in the dark or in the refrigerator.

The Toxicity Of Eye Drops.

Eye drops are a kind of medicine, and its toxicity is mainly manifested as ocular surface toxicity.

Conjunctival toxicity and corneal toxicity are two common ocular surface toxicities. Conjunctival toxicity generally has toxic papillae, follicles, and delayed allergic reactions. Corneal toxicity will cause punctate epithelial lesions, which may lead to ulceration, dissolution and perforation in severe cases.

At the same time, the preservatives added in eye drops can cause drug-induced dry eye and have certain toxicity. Common preservatives are benzyl alcohol, benzalkonium chloride, and sorbic acid, among others.

Therefore, it is necessary to control the amount of eye drops. If the ocular surface environment is healthy, eye drops are controlled between 4-6 times a day, which is safe. If the ocular surface environment is not good, its toxicity will increase as the preservative stays on the ocular surface longer.

How To Safely Use Eye Drops On Children?

What if children must use eye drops?

First, use eye drops with no preservatives or low toxicity. Preservative-free artificial tears can be used in combination with other eye drops.

Second, do not abuse eye drops, and be sure to follow the doctor's instructions for symptomatic medication to effectively protect the eyes.

Three to follow up regularly. If there is a problem with the eyes, be sure to see an ophthalmologist, treat it under the guidance of a doctor, and pay attention to regular follow-up.

By reading this article, I believe you have a better understanding of the use of eye drops in children, and you will be calmer when you encounter children who need to use eye drops.