Breast Milk and Pink Eye
“Mommy, my eyes hurt.”
My oldest suffers from bad allergies so complaints about his eyes and nose suffering are not new. I made a mental note to give him allergy medicine when we got home and went on with running errands. When we got home, however, it was clear that it was not just allergies he was suffering from.
Both eyes were puffy, oozing, and pink. When he complained that it felt like sand was in his eyes I was certain, it was pink eye. Added to it was swelling and tenderness in his cheeks that always told me a sinus infection was happening. Needless to say it was not a pleasant weekend. Fortunately I have a pretty good medical trick up my sleeve. Breastmilk.
Conjunctivitis, or pink eye, can be caused by several different things. But when it is bacterial, breastmilk works wonders. Breastmilk contains many antibodies that help fight infections, the most abundant being secretory IgA. What’s so special about that?
Breastmilk has been used by mothers (probably for many years) to treat infectious conjunctivitis. Secretory IgA is an immunoglobulin, present in colostrum and mature human milk. It has been found to inhibit the adherence or bacteria to mucosal surfaces and limits bacterial colonization of the eye. Via: ivillage
Conjunctivitis, pink eye, breastmilk
November 12th, 2008 at 4:41 pm
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