blocked tear duct?

[newyorkgirl]

I know I've seen a thread on this before, but for some reason, the search engine didn't come up with anything. If your DC has had this before, can you tell me what it looks like and possibly how to treat it?

DS's right eye has been tearing up all day for no reason, and the skin around the eye has also been a little red (but not puffy). (The actual white of the eye is not red.) There was a small goopy thing in his eye that I brushed away, but afterward, his eye didn't stop tearing and was still red.

I'm going to call the ped tomorrow morning, but is this a blocked tear duct? or something more serious?

[KarenS]

If he's tearing, then it doesn't sound like a blocked duct to me. When I had one, it was swollen and tender to the touch and I actually couldn't tear up, even tho I wanted to!

Could it be pinkeye? The fact that the eye is goopy (technical term, doncha know! :)) and that the lid is red, even if not puffy, and that he's tearing a lot makes me think of pinkeye.

If it is (or if it could be) do NOT touch his eye w/out thoroughly washing your hands in soap and hot water afterwards. Seriously. Pinkeye is amazingly contageous. It's not dangerous that I know of ... but it spreads like wildfire and it's horribly uncomfortable.

Karen

[jo&sean]

It sounds like he has the same thing as DD - she constantly tears up and gets little eye goobers. Our ped confirmed that it was in fact a blocked tear duct. He did say that if the discharge gets greeny or really yellow, then it is probably turning into a slight infection which can be treated easily.

Also, here's the info off of Babycenter.com:

Question: Why do my newborn's eyes tear up and get crusty?

Answer: This can happen for different reasons. Most commonly, it's due to an infection (such as conjunctivitis) caused by bacteria or a blocked tear duct. If this is the first time your baby has had these symptoms, it may be difficult to tell what the cause is. Your pediatrician may treat her for a possible infection initially, using a warm compress to wipe away the discharge and prescribing an antibiotic ointment to treat the infection. If the discharge doesn't improve, then the problem is most likely a blocked tear duct.

[catmom]

Our DD had one, and the dr checked to see if it was infected (it wasn't). What she had us do was gently massage the duct 3 times a day until it got better. Basically, we just gently ran our fingertip over the duct (alongside her nose) up and down 10 times.

[Marisa]

It sounds crazy, but a little breastmilk might help! (It has antibacterial properties, doncha know! :))

If you'd rather not 'squirt' your baby right in the eye, you can express a few drops and apply with a clean washcloth or cotton ball. :)

[ginad724]

My DD had a blocked tear duct until she was about 5 months of age, and it was just like the symptoms you're seeing. The massages were what finally worked to get rid of it (after our first ped kept prescribing antibiotics). I was weary of giving too much of the antibiotics because I didn't want her to build up a resistance to them.

The massages were exactly as described by the previous poster. Rub in a circluar motion next to the duct (by the nose) toward the inner corner of the eye. Also, my ped recommended just a bit of vaseline to help with the redness until the duct gets unblocked. The warm compresses also helped (though my DD wasn't too crazy about them).

If the massages don't eventually work, there's a minor surgical procedure that can fix it. Most peds won't even consider that until your child is a year.

I also heard the trick about the breastmilk. I never tried it, but that's worth a shot!

[usafwife]

DD has had one since about a month after she was born. Her's has the greenish/yellowish discharge and is red looking around the eye. Her doctor said it should clear up within the first year. If it doesn't then she might need surgery. The doctor said to put warm compressions on it three times a day and to massage it.

When it is so red it makes my eye hurt for her because I know it has to hurt. My mom has one and I know that she talks about how it hurts. Her eye doctor told her that surgery is her only option. Her's waters almost constantly. KarenS, did you have surgery to clear yours up?

[BTB]

If he's tearing, then it doesn't sound like a blocked duct to me.

Ah, but it's not that simple. ;)

There are TWO tear ducts in each eye - one to bring in tears, and one to drain them away. The input tract is on the lateral side of the eye (near the temples); the output tract is medially located (on each side of the nose). It is very, very common for newborns to have blockage of the medial tear duct - the drainage ditch - letting them tear like crazy and get lots of goop to boot, and no place for it to go.

I'm going to call the ped tomorrow morning, but is this a blocked tear duct? or something more serious?

Impossible to say over the internet - being certain requires looking at the baby's eyes. :)

But FWIW, blocked tear ducts do sound like what you're describing. Leaving all this rich, soupy eye goop around does promote infection, it's great food for bacteria. A warm, moist cloth to loosen and gently remove the goop, as often as needed, is the best first step in treatment of a blocked tear duct and can circumvent the need for antimicrobial drops. Tear duct massage is also key. Breast milk sometimes clears up the problem after just one application.

DD had a blocked tear duct after birth, and it cleared up when she was two months old. Had it persisted, I would've sought the surgery for her, it is best performed between 12-18 months but few kids end up needing it - the vast majority of blocked ducts to not last that long.

[newyorkgirl]

Thanks for all the replies. This morning, DS's eye was just as normal as the other one, so we're thinking that something just irritated his eye yesterday and once it was out, he was fine. I'll keep it in mind and ask the ped at the next well-baby visit (in a week).

[Winter Biscuit]

It sounds crazy, but a little breastmilk might help! (It has antibacterial properties, doncha know! :))

If you'd rather not 'squirt' your baby right in the eye, you can express a few drops and apply with a clean washcloth or cotton ball. :)

This is exactly what I was going to say. My DD had a blocked tear duct when she was young (<3 months, IIRC) and I read about using breastmilk in my Dr. Sears book. I tried it and it worked! Gotta love breastmilk :)

[Chylynn]

My DD has a clogged tear duct and I have been trying to put a warm compress under her eye, but she is fighting it and pulling it off. I try to give it to her when she is having her bottle, thinking she would be calm, but no dice. Any ideas? Any other remedies that you have heard of?

[annielynn]

That was one of my suggestions the other one is the massage her lower eye lid. But I am sure that this isn't going to be easy either because of her fiestiness! ;) Jack had a clogged tear duct when he was first born so the remedies were a whole lots easier to administor.

[IrisHope]

My doc said to lay a warm wet washcloth on her eye.

[catmom]

Our ped had us do a tear duct massage about 3 times a day.... you just take your (clean) finger and run it up and down along the edge of the nose, next to the eye (over the duct) like 10 times.

[Franni]

ditto what catmom suggested. DD had a clogged tear duct. I did the massage usually when I am singing to her in the bathroom. Maybe it'll help if you give her a toy of some kind to play with.

[julifromjersey]

Our pedi-- who is very into homeopathic remedies-- told me to put a few drops of breastmilk into DS's eye. It did work to clear it up short term but it went away on it's own by the time he was 6 months old.

[Chylynn]

Great, thanks for all of your responses. I am going to try to do the massage the next time I feed her. Thanks again!!

[usafwife]

Ditto to what catmom said. DD had a blocked tear duct for months. It always looked like it hurt so bad. I tried the warm compress under her eye as well. Sometimes she'd lay still and other times she would fight it. I did the happy dance when it finally went away about a month ago. Her doctor said that it should go away by the time she was a year old and if it didn't then we would be looking at possibly having to have surgery. I wanted to avoid the surgery at all costs.

I hope your daughter's blocked/clogged tear duct goes away as well.

[Rosebud]

Bumping this up-- I'm pretty sure my baby has a blocked tear duct. The area under his left eye is a little swollen and the eye is leaking fluid and yellowish discharge. Our pediatrician's office recommended breastmilk in the eye and massage, which I've been doing since yesterday morning. How long does it normally take for this to clear up a bit? The eye still looks really gross, but the actual eyeball isn't red or anything (which would indicate infection, I think). Anyone else deal with this?

Poor little guy! :(

[Rosebud]

Just FYI, after two days of massage, breastmilk and warm washcloths, DS's eye seems to have really cleared up. It's still a little swollen on the lower lid, but much improved overall and the discharge is gone. Yay!

[Tracie]

I'm glad your son's eye is better! This happened to my son when he was a newborn - between one and two weeks old. He had a lot of discharge coming out of his eye but they were not red or pink. (When I called the pediatrician, the front staff and nurse all said he was getting check for pinkeye, and I kept saying, "I don't think it's pinkeye" since his whites were still white. I was right.) They recommended massage, and I also supplemented with breastmilk. Like your son, my son's eye was better in a day or two.

[Ohana]

DD2 had this as well. In fact, her eye was all gooey by the time we left the hospital 24 hours after her birth. IIRC, it did not completely resolve itself until she was close to a year old. We did the massage and wiping with warm, wet cloths, but she did have the goopiness from time to time for quite a while.

[Rosebud]

Yeah, it looks like I spoke too soon. His eye looked great yesterday when I posted, but is definitely still getting goopy from time to time. I just keep cleaning it, massaging and putting on warm washcloths and that definitely helps.