Clogged tear duct ?

laciegregory

Basically since my DS was born he has had a goopy eye.  My ped says it's a clogged tear duct.  Does anyone have experience with this? How long before it got better!

skyeblue2007

My friends little boy had the same thing. The ped kept telling her it was fine, and at 3 months she finally forced them to do a culture. Turns out it is staph and he may have to have surgery.

naadede

My DD also had that. But i was told it would go away. Just massage the area around her eyes with your clean finger. Make sure you use a cotton to clean it when it gets all mucky. But remember to use a different cotton for each ear. If it doesn't go within a week you can go and see your Ped.

csspencer

My DS was born with it as well. He'll be 8 weeks on Friday and it's 99% better. It still gets a little goopy when he cries. His pedi said if we notice green discharge or his eye gets red to give them a call. We were told to massage the area and apply warm compresses. My mom said my sister was born with it as well, and eventually needed drops, just keep an eye in it and call the pedi if you are concerned.

laciegregory

Yes, we were prescribed anti-biotic drops when he was 5 days old (that was at it's worst in both eyes) he will be 10 weeks tomorrow.  As soon as I would stop the drops it would get bad again... And I don't want to continually give him the drops for fear that he will become immune. It's def better but still gets goopy in one eye. I am doing the massage thing, just ready for him to be 100% healthy boy. 

I even think that one eye is smaller than the other because of this... ??

Welshgirl12

I clean it with a couple of wet cotton pads...dont use the same one to wipe twice...and then threw in a couple of drops of breast milk, several times a day

Karadee1

My DS had this when he was born. The pediatrician in the hospital recommended I massage the area just under his inner eye with my pinky. Went away the next day.

platypusbaby

Ditto on the hot wash cloth and breast milk!

EmR22

My DD3 got it when she was around 6 months. With massage and warm compresses it never improved. She didn't get many infections but it was just always goopy. When she was 1 she had the surgery to fix it. Very minor and like 15 minutes. She hasn't had any eye issues since.

Mrs.AllyH

DD has had it since she was 2 weeks old. She is now 6 weeks and it's goopy every day I hate that when she wakes up some mornings she can't open her eye because it is crusted shut. We have her 2 mo appointment next week and we will be asking if there is anything we can do beyond the warm compresses and massages. I do them each time I feed her and it is still backed up to where when I press green/yellow comes out. They did a culture and it's staph epi, so nothing to worry about (as a microbiologist I was happy to hear that's all it was) We'll see what the pedi says next week.

BelhurstBride

Massages, warm compresses and breast milk. Unless the eye itself is red or the lids are swollen there's no reason for antibiotics. It's a clogged duct, not an infection. 

With DD1 it took a a week or so to go away. I'm still battling it with DD2. If it doesn't clear up by 9 months it may have to be irrigated. The goop is gross but it is what it is. 

CaliforniaDream87

My lo had this. Lasted about 2 weeks. We had to get an antibiotic ointment because his was infected (green in color). Cleared right up and haven't seen any sign of it being back (he is 13 weeks).

CaliforniaDream87

jessicaivana said:

BelhurstBride said:

Massages, warm compresses and breast milk. Unless the eye itself is red or the lids are swollen there's no reason for antibiotics. It's a clogged duct, not an infection. 

With DD1 it took a a week or so to go away. I'm still battling it with DD2. If it doesn't clear up by 9 months it may have to be irrigated. The goop is gross but it is what it is. 

BelhurstBride said:

Massages, warm compresses and breast milk. Unless the eye itself is red or the lids are swollen there's no reason for antibiotics. It's a clogged duct, not an infection. 

With DD1 it took a a week or so to go away. I'm still battling it with DD2. If it doesn't clear up by 9 months it may have to be irrigated. The goop is gross but it is what it is. 

 We were told to use the antibiotic if the goop is green...for the most part ours is green. What color is your LO's goop.

(Never thought I would be asking other people what color their kids eye goop is!)

According to my Pedi because my LO had green discharge it WAS in fact an infection. I chose to listen to my doctor. After the ointment was given it cleared right up. I would consult with your physician.

BelhurstBride

I have consulted my physician. She said it was clearly not an infection and didn't recommend over using antibiotics. 

Some days it's white, some days yellow, some days green. Every once and awhile it's non existent. 

I have a friend whose daughter had a severe enough block that it required surgery; her goop ranged in color as well. No antibiotics were recommended and around a year they irrigated the duct to clear it. 

CaliforniaDream87

BelhurstBride said:

I have consulted my physician. She said it was clearly not an infection and didn't recommend over using antibiotics. 

Some days it's white, some days yellow, some days green. Every once and awhile it's non existent. 

I have a friend whose daughter had a severe enough block that it required surgery; her goop ranged in color as well. No antibiotics were recommended and around a year they irrigated the duct to clear it. 

I was directing my "consult with your physician" comment to Jessica since she asked about color and next steps.

To each their own on how you choose to deal with it. I gave my child's experience. For me, antibiotics cleared it up and we're fine with our decision.

iHeartVan

My LO is going to be 17 weeks and his right tear duct is still clogged. We wipe out green gunk ALL day long. Massaging never opened it. As soon as we stop using the erythromycin, it comes back. It's very frustrating. Guess we will keep doing it until it clears up or he needs the surgery at 1 y/o.

laciegregory

My Ped said it was okay unless the eyeball itself got red.  I wipe green/yellow goop out almost constantly- somedays more than others.

Zoly1103

We did the breast milk thing as well and it cleared right up. I was amazed.