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Blocked tear duct

egoldst1egoldst1 member
in June 2013 Moms
LO will be seeing an ophthalmologist on Tuesday. We have been to our pediatrician 3-4 times for the same issue with his right eye. He has had issues with it on and off since he was born. It will basically leak (like tears coming down) or gets pretty gooped up when he has been sleeping. We've been taking a warm washcloth and wiping it a few times a day and the 3 or 4 times we saw our ped. she gave us drops which work wonderfully... However, after the 5 days of drops, it goes right back to where it was. I've read that 1/3 of babies are born with dysfunctional tear ducts but they usually clear up by 9-12 months. I'm hoping it clears up on its own but I'm getting kind of worried. Anyone else have trouble with this?
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Re: Blocked tear duct

  • lioness13lioness13 member
    KJ's left eye leaks occasionally. If she gets a little upset it leaks and sometimes out of nowhere. Not enough for me or the Ped to be concerned yet though. And no eye goop. I am also hoping it clears up on its own.
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  • ASmallWonderASmallWonder member
     DS1 had one until he was almost 3 and still has some issues with it if he gets a cold.  It'll gunk right up.  We were sent home for pink eye so.many.times!  We almost went with the procedure but decided to wait and it seems to have gotten a lot better.
    Formerly known as elmoali :)

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  • nikel13nikel13 member
    Lily sometimes has this problem with her left eye. The pedi said that the duct will sometimes clog with a cold and babies get tones of colds. I don't get too worried because it goes away and the pedi seems to act like this isn't out of the ordinary.
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  • WasNotWasWasNotWas member
    You need to see an ENT not an ophthalmologist...I think. We had the same issue and were one pink eye breakout away from getting the surgery with Bradley. If you want to PM me I can send you a video of the proper way to massage the junk out.
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                                                                       Bradley 05-04-11 & Tyler 06-18-13
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  • kelly422kelly422 member
    @violet1183 said:
    We had issues the first few months by it has cleared up. The ped had said they don't get concerned until 1 year and I think it's a fairly un-invasive procedure to correct it. I know as a baby I almost had to have surgery at 1 but then it cleared up. Where is @kelly422‌ ?
    Ya'll don't need me - you guys answered her question :) 
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  • BeaslejlBeaslejl member
    We had this issue starting at 3 weeks old.  It was not fun at all.  LO's did rectify itself.  However, a friend of mine's son did have to have a procedure done on his eyes because of it after he turned one.  He's fine now.  Wish I could help more.
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  • kelly422kelly422 member
    @WasNotWas said:
    You need to see an ENT not an ophthalmologist...I think. We had the same issue and were one pink eye breakout away from getting the surgery with Bradley. If you want to PM me I can send you a video of the proper way to massage the junk out.


    I've always referred to an Ophthalmologist.  ENT =/= eyes :)

     

    @egoldst1 I found this blurb today which may be helpful:

    The timing of initial probing depends upon the preference of the ophthalmologist. Some ophthalmologists advocate deferring the procedure until the child is at least 12 months of age because of the high rate of spontaneous resolution; exceptions can be made for children who have recurrent infection or lid irritation, or who need anesthesia for some other procedure [3,4]. When performed after 12 months of age, general anesthesia is usually necessary.

    Other ophthalmologists advocate probing between 6 and 12 months of age [5,6]. They suggest that prolonged tearing annoys the infant and the parents, and that delayed probing may increase the risk of infections, lacrimal duct scarring, and failure. Probing between 6 and 12 months of age has an advantage of being able to be performed in the office with topical anesthesia.

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  • WasNotWasWasNotWas member
    @kelly422 the problem is not the eye though, it's the tear duct which an ENT can help with, yes? We were referred to a pediatric ENT when we almost had surgery with Bradley is why I said that. They were the first people to recommend the correct way to massage the duct to clear the membrane doing the clogging and within 2 weeks his duct was clear!!
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                                                                       Bradley 05-04-11 & Tyler 06-18-13
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  • kelly422kelly422 member
    @wasnotwas I've always used Ophth but some ENTs must also be comfortable with the procedure.  I bet it's a regional thing! 
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  • WasNotWasWasNotWas member
    kelly422 said:
    @wasnotwas I've always used Ophth but some ENTs must also be comfortable with the procedure.  I bet it's a regional thing! 
    Good point! Jacksonville has some incredible pediatric specialists, so that's probably why
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                                                                  #Bodymber14 #Bodygate #itsMillerTime

     

                                                                       Bradley 05-04-11 & Tyler 06-18-13
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  • egoldst1egoldst1 member
    Thanks for all of your comments! The ophthalmologist suggested waiting until LO is around 1 year to see if it corrects on its own. If not, he said the procedure is very simple - gas mask that puts LO under for about 5 minutes and he said the procedure only takes about 3 minutes. Sounds relatively simple - but still not something I look forward to :-/ We are going to wait and try to massage the duct to see if that works.
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