The first years of a baby’s life are accompanied by mucus. Whether in the eyes, nose, or chest, it is common for children to have more mucus than adults have. Within the care of the newborn, the drainage of the nose and being attentive to the nasal mucus is well known. However, we cannot forget about the care of the eyes, something significant due to the enormous sensitivity of the area, which requires special attention.
That is why in the following FastlyHealarticle, we will talk to you about this problem. We will explain how to remove blemishes from babies, but we will also talk about the origin of defects and the causes and diseases that can lead to an excessive increase in this mucus.
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Legañas in the newborn baby: causes
What are legañas? When and why do they accumulate in the baby’s eyes? Legañas are nothing more than the remains of dried tears. Once the tear evaporates and the water is gone, the rest of the components remain, the mucin and the fat, which gives it its greenish or yellowish color.
To a certain extent, when the baby wakes up, it is entirely natural. This is due to two primary factors :
- When the eyes are closed, the amount of water that evaporates is less; there is a greater secretion.
- It is not blinking when the baby is asleep; it is not flashing, so they do not drain and accumulate.
Consequently, getting up with bruises in the morning is normal, and if we take into account that babies sleep many more hours than adults, it is evident that they will also have more bruises than these. On the other hand, they can also suffer more because their tear ducts have not finished developing and they have more sensitive conjunctiva.
But when do we talk about excessive legañas? What can cause them? In the next section, we will talk about it.
Excessive legañas in babies: causes
As we have already commented, legañas are normal, which is not that the baby has them in excess, either when he is asleep or awake. In that case, the causes of excess legañas in the baby can be the following two, so we have to be attentive to his symptoms to take him to the pediatrician:
Lacrimal obstruction
One of the causes that the baby has green legañas and in great quantity is that the tear duct is obstructed, or what is the same, that the duct that joins the nose and the eye is blocked, a vent through which the tears are evacuated.
If so, the pediatrician will explain the treatment to follow, which, in most cases, goes through a finger massage under the baby’s eye. Usually, two weeks of these massages each day will be enough for the newborn’s tear duct to drain normally. If this is not the case, the pediatrician may choose to probe that duct and perform a small intervention to unblock the tear duct. It is an effortless operation that does not require hospital admission; you should not worry about it.
Baby conjunctivitis
Does your baby have a crying eye and have dreams? If it only affects one eye, it is most likely that it is conjunctivitis, although it may also be that the infection involves both. Conjunctivitis is an infection of the conjunctiva, the white part of the eye, something that must be treated quickly so that it does not go to more. In addition to the legañas, other symptoms can alert you that your baby is suffering from conjunctivitis:
- Inflammation of the eye and eyelids.
- Redness of the eye and eyelids.
- Greater tearing.
- White, green, or yellow secretions.
- Itching and burning eyes.
- Light sensitivity.
If the newborn suffers from these symptoms, you should take him to the pediatrician for a correct diagnosis. The treatment will be washed with physiological saline, which we will explain later, and if it does not work, specific eye drops for babies will be prescribed.
How to get rid of baby gums
One thing should never be done to remove a baby’s blemishes: you should never remove them dry or with your finger. That way, you can damage the eye or the skin, which is very sensitive, and you could scratch it. It would help if you always did it in the wet, with softened tears, and for this, you have to use physiological saline sold in any pharmacy. To remove them, you have to use sterilized gauze and move the legañas from the tear duct down. Another common mistake in cleaning the baby’s eyes is to use cotton, the fibers which can remain in the newborn’s eye.
The dynamics should be as follows: the baby is lying up, putting the serum in his eye, and inclining it slightly to the side to prevent it from going to the other eye. In the same way, you should use a different gauze for each look, since doing it with the same one, if there were an infection, you would pass the infection from one eye to the other.
In short, what you should do to remove the baby’s gunk is:
- Put physiological saline.
- Tilt the baby.
- Move the legañas with a gauze.
- The movement must be from the tear duct down.
- Repeat on the other eye with another gauze.
Cleaning the eyes of a child with conjunctivitis
If the baby has conjunctivitis, the method to clean the legañas should not vary from the one we have already explained. Of course, you must take extreme precautions to prevent the infection from passing from one eye to another or prevent it from going to more. In this case, the cleaning of the eyes should be much more followed, every few hours or every time you observe the blemishes. In addition, you will have to avoid rubbing his eyes with his hands, touching them, and supervising every object that his eye handles so that the infection does not spread.
This article is merely informative, at FastlyHeal .com we do not have the power to prescribe medical treatments or make any type of diagnosis. We invite you to see a doctor in the case of presenting any type of condition or discomfort.
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I am a Surgeon with a diploma in comprehensive ultrasound and surgical care residency, an area I am specializing in. During the exercise of my profession, I have realized the need for patients to know the diseases they suffer, and I can tell you that a large part of their complications is due to a lack of information. Being a health web writer allows me to transmit my experience, without borders, to all those readers eager for knowledge, educate them in the prevention of diseases and promote a healthy lifestyle.