persistent sty in 3 year old

My 3 year old has had a sty on his eye (lower eyelid) for several months.  Antiobitioc cream has not worked.  We have tried to be consistent with warm compresses but it is tough with a toddler.  He has seen a pediatric opthamalogist twice who assures us the sty is not inteferring with his vision but at this point says surgery to lance it is probably the only way to get rid of it (he can't give us an idea how long it would take to go away on its own).  I am ok with the surgery except that he would have to have general anethesia.  Is this generally ok for a child so young?  Are we taking an unnecessary risk for a primarily cosmetic issue?  The sty has not developed into an infection or gotten any bigger or worse in size--it just won't go away.

[John C Hagan]

The stye (acually more likely a chronic chalazion) is not just a cosmetic problem. It can cause permanent scarring of the eyelids, loss of eyelashes and more chalazions to form. Your pediatric ophthalmologist undoubtedly operates at a facility that is experienced with pediatric anesthesia.  Pediatric ophthalmologists often operate on children in the first year of life for things like congenital cataracts. Discuss your concerns with the pediatric ophthalmologist and the anesthesiologist.

JCH III MD

[Tinakyt]

Hello, my 3 year old has a stye that will not leave!  He's had it for 1 month.  His pediatrician put him on eye drops, eye cream and nothing's worked.  He is now on oral Novo Cloxin but I haven't seen any improvement.  My son complains that it's itchy and even hurts him.  I want this removed!  His pediatrician won't give me a referral to a specialist as he says any surgery will cause scarring - can anyone please comment and help me?  I'm seeing another doctor just to get a hospital referral.  If anyone's child has had this type of surgery, can you please let me know at ***@**** thank you so much.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

A stye that won't go away is usually always a chalazion. Read the prevous posts here about treatment of chalazia. Use Google and search the term and go to Google IMAGES and see what they look like.

JCH III MD

[sil76]

Hi I have a 2 years old boy and he has 2 sty in the same eye for more than 20 days. The doctor told me if it doesn't come out until next week he will do the surgery. I am worried about that, but i am doing a lot of compresses and they are not working  and he is using a eye oil but it seems the same. (I am sorry I live in florida but i doesn't speak english very well). I've never seen a stye that take so long to desappear.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

A stye that won't go away is usually always a chalazion. Read the prevous posts here about treatment of chalazia. Use Google and search the term and go to Google IMAGES and see what they look like.

JCH III MD

[butchikik]

hello , is it safe to a 2 yead old boy to have a surgery for stye removal? my son was diagnosed with a stye and was given antibiotics and eye ointment for treatment ( with warm compress ) but sitll wont go away.. The doctor suggested to have a minor stye surgery. But my concern is , he is too young to have this kind of procedure. Is it really safe at all?

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

It would likely have to be done under general anesthesia. So a good long wait of further medical therapy, drops, ointment, warm compresses and cleaning lids with SteriLid or Occusoft foam eyelid cleaner is usually used rather than surgery.

JCH MD

[Cindy101059]

My 3 year old grandson is on his 2nd stye in 2 months the first was on the left upper lid and the second is on the right bottom lid. I notice when he cries he rubs his eyes constantly, I've tried to get him not to touch his eyes but that's hard and as I'm sure you know if you've had a child! Now is what should we do about the problem, I told his Mom he might possibly need to see his doctor, but since she's going though a divorce with my stepson, she is not able to afford it, do you have any suggestion, or should we go ahead with doctor, and not mess around, of course we wouldn't mind helping out since our son has turned out to be a jerk, but we just need so type of advice on which way to go?