Black Eye right before Vacation

[OhAmbs]

We are 5 days away from Disney and my almost 4 year old is sporting a black eye. This past Tuesday she got into a minor accident at school which now has her undereye area looking awful. Dr said there is no serious damage (thankfully) but now it just occurred to me that my little princess will look like she took a few rounds with Tyson for a while. We leave on Monday for our week long joint birthday trip. Any remedies to help the healing process along?

 

[michyi]

Ugh! Bad luck. Maybe pinterest has ideas on how to "fix" this. I remember when I was taking my ds to get his picture taken and he bit it as we were walking to to the photographer and gave himself a shiner. LOL!

 

[ktlm]

It will probably look much better in 5 days. It might even look good enough by then that it won't even show in the photos. DD had an accident a few years back that resulted in a black eye (and some stitches in the eyebrow area). She had a formal Daddy daughter dance shortly after where they take formal photos. There was nothing I could do about the stiches, but we used a little cover up foundation around some of the yellow/dark areas from the shiner and that worked pretty well for the photos. You might want to go to the store with her and find a cover up or foundation that matches her skin tone in case you need to try to hide it a bit. I've heard that eating pineapple and taking Vitamin C can help them heal faster, but I have no clue whether that is true. I've also heard putting tea bags on them could help- but we couldn't try anything like that with DD because she also had the cut and stitches, so I don't know if there is any truth to that either.

 

[katyjeka]

Our youngest walked behind her sister when she was swinging a bat, scared us to death. She had a shiner for over a week and of course we had a trip planned. We didn't use makeup and just went with it. We laugh at the pictures now. I'm sure your little princess will look adorable.

 

[brinkley07]

Oh no! I'm sure it will be a great memory if there is any bruising left in the pictures. If it really bothers you I would just touch it up with a little corrector/concealer. She will be adorable either way!

 

[imthemamahere]

Poor kid.

As was pointed out, the black eye could be completely gone by then.

If it isn't, I'm tempted to say that using concealer/cover up isn't really necessary, because you want your pictures to be real, right - to show who your daughter really is in this moment? And real life is messy and sometimes gives you a black eye. (Ouch.) I'm sure she's adorable, no matter what.

But if it really bugs you, and/or to make your daughter feel better, you can do a few things before/during your trip to help that bruise heal quicker. For one, since it's been a few days, you can try warm compresses (a few cotton balls soaked in warm water would work, hold one to the bruised area until it feels cool, then swap for fresh/warm one) to help get fresh blood circulating through the area, which can break up the bruise a bit faster. (You want cold ice on a fresh black eye to stop any swelling and help with clotting, but after a few days, it's okay to switch to warm.) You can also gently massage the area around the bruise - so over her cheekbone, to the side near her temple, on her forehead along/above her eyebrow, etc. Again, that increases blood flow, so will help the bruise break up faster.

It's also a good idea to drink a little extra water, and eat fruits and veggies, healthy oils, and healthy protein - give the body the right fuel to help it heal as swiftly as possible, right? (When my son had a nasty bruise, that was suggested by our pediatrician, who knows my son is typically a good/healthy eater. I'm not sure if what she eats will truly speed up healing, but I'd imagine keeping an overall healthy body couldn't hurt!) Like ktlm, I've heard that Vitamin C can help, but I'm not sure if it's true. Can't hurt to have an orange (or pineapple?) or a glass of juice though, just in case it does make a difference!

Good luck! (And really, if it is still visible, don't let it throw you for a loop. Enjoy Disney World with your daughter, and know that down the line, you'll be able to look back at photos and giggle together over her post-MMA-fight look!)

 

[OhAmbs]

Thanks everyone! I am making sure she gets lots of vitamin c and doing the warm compress now. She isn't in any pain and it doesn't seem to even affect her, which is the most important part.

 

[Bluegrrl]

The Tarte makeup line has great BB cream that covers nearly everything. I have rosacia, and it really tones down the red. Their actual make-up make-up is also great, and mineral based. I love it.

Some icing might help bring down the inflamation too. At the worst, you can laugh later. I got chicken pox one year before Disney, and still had little pox marks when I got there. It looked terrible (even though I was over the pox). I hated having my picture taken, but, hey - I really remember the trip!

 

[ktlm]

Poor kid.

As was pointed out, the black eye could be completely gone by then.

If it isn't, I'm tempted to say that using concealer/cover up isn't really necessary, because you want your pictures to be real, right - to show who your daughter really is in this moment? And real life is messy and sometimes gives you a black eye. (Ouch.) I'm sure she's adorable, no matter what.

So true! Even though we used some concealer for the formal dance photos, she still looks a little beat up, and I have to say, I might love those formal Daddy/Daughter dance photos more than ones from other years. We can look back and laugh. They definitely show the clumsy real her, rather than the dressed up pretending to be formal her.

 

[usnuzuloose]

If it does not clear up maybe you can take her to Ulta and see what kind of concealer to hide it. But hopefully it will be gone.

 

[superchime]

I've never tried it, but Arnica cream is supposed to help reduce reduce bruising. At any rate, I'm glad she's ok and I hope you have a great trip!

 

[BubblyTrip]

A few pairs of cute kid sunglasses!!

 

[squirrel]

A few pairs of cute kid sunglasses!!

That's what I was going to say. If it's sunny kids squint in the photos so sunglasses are great to have.