Small and Mean: The Barley Grain
The barley grain - Fieser tormenting in the eye
Small but mean! A barley grain is tiny, but can grow into a major plague. The little troublemaker on the eye requires above all patience.
Symptoms of infection
It usually begins with a swelling on the upper or lower eyelid. Then a small red knot is created, which can later fill with pus. Not only does this look very ugly, it also creates a feeling of tightness that causes great pain. In addition, the hordeolum is accompanied by a strong itching. All in all, an infection that you would like to avoid.
Duration of the disease
Even if the skin abscess is painful, you usually do not have to worry. After a few days, the knot usually bursts and heals without permanent damage. Overall, you usually do not have to spend more than nine days bothering with a barley grain. Until then, you do not have to remain idle and wait until the barley grain crumbles by itself.
Treatment of barley grains
To support the recovery process as well as possible, you can fight the barley grain with dry heat. For a red light lamp is particularly suitable. Those who want to make sure that the bacteria do not spread throughout the eye can use eye drops or ointments with antibiotics. Caution: Under no circumstances push out the pus with your fingers. This allows the bacteria to invade the blood vessels. You should also avoid damp heat, as the germs then feel particularly comfortable and spread out to their liking.
If you suffer from swollen lymph nodes, fever and headache in addition to the infection, a doctor must urgently be consulted. In unbearable pain, the doctor can remove the Hordeolum by a small operation. The barley grain is locally anesthetized during the operation, so that the patient has no pain. If the purulent fluid has completely disappeared from the eye, the symptoms should subside quickly.
Causes of the formation of barley grains
In the eye, three different glands are arranged: The minor and glandular glands are located at the edges of the eyelids. When these swell, it is an outer barley grain that occurs near the eyelashes. The meidoma glands, however, are in the eye. If these swell, it is called an inner barley grain. This is hardly visible, but still very painful. Both types of barley grains are a bacterial infection. Staphylococci are the most common cause of inflammation of the glands.
People with a weakened immune system are particularly susceptible to bacterial infections. Also, the eyes can be attacked by germs faster and promote the formation of barley grains. Especially in people who suffer from the diabetes mellitus diabetes, there is an increased risk of becoming ill with a hordeolum.
Prevent bacterial attack
Staphylococci have no chance if you take care not to rub your eyes with dirty hands. Since children tend to rub their eyes with dirty fingers, they are particularly often affected. Parents should therefore make sure that their little ones wash their hands thoroughly after playing in the garden.
Even if the risk of infection with a barley grain is not as great as with conjunctivitis, you should be careful not to use the same towel as the sick person. In addition, you should often wash your hands if a member of the household suffers from a barley grain. Care for contact lens wearers: Those who do not thoroughly clean the vision aids can favor the formation of bacteria and thus promote the formation of a barley grain.
Barley grain or hailstones?
While a barley grain is a bacterial infection of the eye, bacteria are usually not the cause of inflammation in hailstones. If the knot does not cause pain, it is usually a hailstone (chalazion). This is a chronic disease of the sebaceous glands, which usually lasts several weeks. Really nasty and uncomfortable. How hail is like that.
If you are unsure whether it is a barley grain or hailstones, you should have the skin abscess examined by the doctor. The rule of thumb for barley grains is patience and keeping calm. Mostly they disappear quickly. In case of complications you should, however, visit a doctor as quickly as possible.
