Clogged Tear Duct - Pittsburgh,PA

Hi J., my son had to have his tear duct unclogged but that was 35 years ago. My grandson is 1 and his tear duct was clogged the dr. told my daughter to rub the corner of the eye, and the stuff that came out of there was nasty and it smelled. The dr. told her it could last up till a year. Well she rubbed and rubbed and it stopped after so many months and his eye is fine now, nomore nasty stuff nomore clogged eye, she used to rub it when he went to sleep and that when she would get all the stuff out of it. I hope this helps.

My daughter had it. She may have been 18 mos. What a trooper. The dr said they take what is similar to a pipe cleaner but much smaller and thread it threw the tear duct. Recovery was minimal and what a difference. She is now 6 and has had no issues since. It is a must do if they give you that option. Good luck!

This is going to sound totally crazy but my son had the same thing. A friend had this happen with one of her children and she put breastmilk in the affected eye and it cleared up. I thought she was kind of crazy until my son's duct hadn't cleared up by the time he was 8 months old so I figured what the heck. I would spray breast milk in his eye over the corner where the clogged duct was two times a day (morning and bedtime) and let him blink a few times and then wipe the rest out. It didn't hurt his eye at all and he didn't even cry. His tear duct cleared up noticeably within a week and was totally clear within a few weeks. I know you probably think I am crazy but I was nervous about the surgery too and this way we didn't need to worry about it.

I have had to deal with clogged ducts in all 6 of my children, but only one of them has had to undergo the surgery. They all either grew out of it, or the massaging that your doc told you about worked. For our 6th, nothing was working. It was getting so bad that she was getting multiple infections and pink eye a couple of times because her eye wasn't draining the fluid it needed to. The surgery itself isn't bad at all. They only put the baby under because they are working on the eye area and don't want to damage the eye. After the surgery, she had some bruising around the eye, but nothing more. We actually had the doc put a stint in her duct to hold it open and had that in for 6 months. We did a return office visit at the end of that time and they removed it. It has been about 13 months since the procedure and we have not had any recurrance of the clog or any of the infection problems we had before. I would recommend seeing an eye doctor and talking with them before you decide. But if I had to do it over again....I would. Good luck.
J.---SAHM of 6

Hi. I am an optometrist in Delaware and the mother of a beautiful 10 mo baby girl. Congential Tear Duct Obstructions resolve within the first year of life in up to 90% of cases. Gentle massage and warm compresses are usually the only treatment needed. Antibiotic ointment is sometimes necessary if infection is suspected. If it does not clear up by age 1 then probing of the duct is usually performed to try to unclog it. If you go to infantsee.com you can find an optometrist in your area that will see your son for an intial consultation free of charge (the program is available to any infant between 6-12 mo). Hope this helps!

Are you breastfeeding? If so you may want to try massaging a L. breast milk under her eye every time you nurse. I know it sounds weird but it has natural antibiotics. The ped suggested it to me with my daughter.

My oldest daughter had one also, and I was told by the Ped we could talk about surgery at a year old, also. Fortunately it cleared up on its own. I would definitely wait it out also. Its annoying but it will more than likely go away on its own at some point.

I think all of my kids got that at one point or another. I didn't read the other posts but this is what worked for me: warm compresses every 2 hours. No, your baby won't like this, but it WORKS. Make sure you wash your hands really well beforehand, and after the compress starts cooling massage the spot gently. I would be pretty surprised if you do this every 2 hours every day and it doesn't clear up within 5 days to a week at the MOST. Best wishes!

I know a lot of babies that had clogged tear ducts, my son included, but none that actually had to have surgery. My doc told me that if it's not cleared up by the age of one then we would discuss surgery, it cleared up. I think you still have some time to let it clear, so don't stress too much about it. It will probably go away before you have to act on it.

My daughter had it and honestly, they say it can take a year to clear up (I think my dd was almost 8 months).

The first thing they would try is to insert a very small needle in to clear it, but they won't even do that until one year. My mother has had this done and she said it doesn't hurt - she just felt a L. pop and it was through. They will sedate your daughter (if they even have to do it) just because she is too L. to stay still.

I would hang in there a bit longer. Keep massaging it and chances are it will clear up on it's own.

HTH,

C.

My son had the same thing... Our doctor told us to rub them periodically and use saline solution for contact lens wearers. (We were pretty lazy at it, and it did clear up on his own) He's almost 9 months now.

My mother-in-law told me that the same thing was recommended for my husband when he was a baby. They never had the surgery. He's fine now except that he comments that his eyes water sometimes when he's tired and lies down. Other than that he's perfect.

You may want to wait a L. longer and try the saline. If it's not a huge deal, then don't worry about it. Follow your 'mommy instincts.' You know what is best. :)

My next door neighbor's daughter had the surgery. It was no big deal-- seriously took like 1 minutes. The only problem is that one of them is still clogged and she's going to have to go have it done again, but again, it was so not a big deal. I think the word "procedure" would be better than "surgery."

I would try the massage thing, if he'll let you. And most of them do open up by 12 months on their own.

ps. the breast milk thing works for pinkeye, too, if you ever need it. My pediatrician said she cleared up her HUSBAND's eye infection one time with her breastmilk when powerful antibiotics had failed to do so. I used it on my son twice and it is much, much better than they eye drops!

I know you already received lots of replies, but it takes me a while to read my email, so I just found your post. My son had a blocked tear duct since he was 10 days old. I tried everything! The breastmilk thing (which just made him cry), the warm wash cloth, all of it! I knew that at a year old I would have to start considering the surgery. But I also knew that he would not be 35 and have a clogged tear duct. One day when he was 10 months old, it just went away! Just like that! I held my breath and didn't mention it to anyone for a week just in case I jinxed it or something. He is 14 months now and has very lovely, clear blue eyes!

My son also had a clogged tear duct. His doctor said if it didn't go away by one yrs old then he would need to have surgery. It actually cleared up when he was about 14 months old. There was no way I was going to put him under at such a young age. He's 19 months now, and every once in a while he'll wake up from a nap and his eyelid while be a L. swollen in the eye his tear duct used to be clogged.
If I were you, I would just wait it out a L. longer and see if it clears on it's own.

Good luck :)

Hopefully, the masssage thing will do the trick. The only thing I want to point out is that it is better to do the surgery sooner rather than later. If you wait until he is much older, then he is more likely to have separation issues from the procedure. My niece had it at one year, because her pediatrician was concerned with waiting too long - she came through just fine and has had no complications since. Good luck with your L. guy~

My daughter had that as well. She was late in getting her teeth, once those came in (around 9 months) her tear duct cleared up. The specialist said she was lucky. I don't believe they do the surgery until they're around 9 months anyway (at the earliest) so just keep doing what you're doing and hopefully your L. one won't need the procedure!

My son was almost a year old before his cleared up on its own.

You still have 6 months to work on it!

It is not that big of a deal I promise. I had it done when i was 1 month old and my daughter had it done at 2 months. It is not really a surgery there is no sedation required at all. It is a very simple quick procedure that is done in the dr office. They simply put them in a restraint (you may want to go stand in the lobby during this as your child will scream more from the being restrained that from pain) use a very small needle to clear out the fluid that is causing the blockage run some saline through it to make sure it is cleared and you are all done. THis whole process takes about 2 or 3 min and with my daughter she was happy and smiling again as soon as they took the restraint off. I suggest going ahead and getting it cleared why should he have to deal with it if it is so easy to fix the problem.

I have a very good friend whose son is the same age as mine.--He had clogged tear ducts for the longest time. One of them was really bad & they were getting ready to schedule surgery b/c she had tried everything else. Well, ALMOST everything else.--She finally took him to a chiropractor & within a few adjustments, his eyes were COMPLETELY fine! No more goop, no more blurry vision! Perfect!
She needed to take him in for regular adjustments for several months to prevent them getting blocked again, but he's 2 3/4 now & is still perfectly fine! No surgery!
Good luck!