Chalazion

What are signs of a chalazion in children?

Does your child have an inflamed and/or swollen eyelid? Do you notice yellowish secretions and the presence of a ball or a cyst inside or outside the eyelid? These symptoms are signs of a chalazion. A chalazion tends to develop slowly and sometimes painlessly.

What is a chalazion?

A chalazion is a consequence related to congestion of the meibomian gland. The role of this gland is to secrete a fatty liquid that participates in the formation of the tear film. If the orifice of a gland becomes blocked, secretions cannot be removed, so the gland will become clogged and inflamed.

What are the risk factors?

The cause of a chalazion cannot be accurately defined. However, there are various factors that promote its appearance:

• Allergies
• Air pollution
• Dry eyes
• Wearing contact lenses
• Blepharitis: an inflammation of the eyelids
• Seborrheic dermatitis: a skin disease causing redness and dry skin
• Some autoimmune, bacterial or parasitic diseases
• Exposure to sunlight

How can a chalazion in children be prevented?

Care must be taken to have good eyelid hygiene, in particular by avoiding too old cosmetics that involve a risk of bacterial contamination.

In cases of repeated chalazions, it is recommended to regularly apply hot water compresses or a washcloth on the closed eyelids for five minutes, then massage them.

Most chalazions resolve themselves by strictly following the eyelid hygiene instructions.

What are treatments for a chalazion?

It is important not to pierce a chalazion. Most chalazions can be treated by simply following a few hygiene rules:

• First, it is important to remind your child to wash their hands thoroughlybefore and after touching their eyes.
• It is advisable to apply compresses or a washcloth soaked in hot water on the closed eyelids, at least two to three times a day, for 5 to 10 minutes. This will relieve the irritation and gradually reduce the swelling of the eyelid.
• It is possible to massage the eyelids from the centre to the eyelashes, to allow the liquid (meibum) to flow from the glands.
• If this is not enough, we advise you to consult your paediatrician or your ophthalmologist in order to obtain a prescription for drug treatment. This treatment is usually in the form of anti-inflammatory or antibiotic ointments to be applied to the eyelid.
• If drug treatments have not yielded results after two months, surgery under local anaesthesia is used to remove the chalazion.

In children, the presence of repeated chalazions can be the sign of a refractive disorder causing eye fatigue by excessive accommodation. Your child may need glasses. An ophthalmological examination is therefore recommended with dilation of the pupils, to ensure that there is no need to introduce optical correction.

In addition, surgical management of persistent chalazions in children tends to be delayed, despite well-performed local treatments. Indeed, it requires local or even general anaesthesia to treat a benign disease that is cured spontaneously in the majority of cases. The decision is made according to the age of the toddler, the extent of the chalazion and its possible consequences. If it is very large and heavy for the eyelid, it could obstruct eyesight and cause the development of amblyopia.

Find out more about children's visual disorders

Do you want to learn more about a particular visual condition? Discover our pages on eye allergy, conjunctivitis, and dry eye. We explain these visual disorders and tell you how to treat them to preserve your children’s visual acuity.