DD2 was born with a blocked tear duct. It is constantly weeping and also has a yellow discharge that gives the look of conjunctivitis. The Dr told me that if it doesnt clear up itself she will need to have surgery to open it up by inserting a probe Has anyone elses child had to have this done or has it cleared itself?
I am sick of telling 'well meaning strangers' that no its not conjunctivitis its a blocked duct, yes I have tried using breast milk and saline but its a blocked duct not an infection. Do they just think I am slack and not getting treatment for her. I hope it does clear up cause I am sick of explaining it to people or getting 'looks'.....
Don't worry too much about strangers. Conjunctivitis is common in little babies and lots of people probably assume that they are the first ones to hear about using breast milk or saline, and have to tell everyone they can find!
Yes, I have looked after children who have had their tear ducts probed to clear a blockage. It's generally day surgery, and not too painful. Sometimes they have a little bit of bleeding from the tear duct afterwards.
Thanks Schmickers for your reply, it just doesnt sound like a very nice procedure. At what age does the op generally happen? Ive also heard gently massaging the duct can help?
DD was born with a watery eye that appeared to be conjuctivitas, possible blocked tear duct. It cleared up itself after a about 8wks or so. Nothing really worked, it just seemed to get better. I just had to keep cleaning the eye with warm water and cotton balls.
Have you had it looked at pehaps by an Optometrist?
It's horrible when people judge from afar
My son had this.
My doctor said that the term for it was "gummy eye" LOL
It cleared up by the time he was 6 months, we just used saline on cotton pad thingies to clean it. It was worse when he had a bit of a snotty nose. (could always tell he was a bit "off" cause it would be worse KWIM?)
I also had the same thing and at 6 wks of age, the doc took me off mum and went into another room with a nurse and "fixed it". Mum said the noise I made was horrific
So I am glad it is done differntly now.
My DS had this in both eyes. One of his eyes cleared itself up by about 12 months, the other still weeps. He needs to have the operation, and I am freaking out!
We've seen the opthamologist about it, and he says there is not that much that can be done- either they grow out of it, or they don't. But I have done some research on it, and there are a lot of people who suggest doing massage on the area- only works for babies as young as yours, not toddlers like mine. If you google it, there are some good descriptions on how to do it. I think I even recall seeing a youtube video on the right technique.
I hope your LO's clears up. I am not looking forward to the procedure. Evidently the operation is no big deal in itself, but they have to be under a general for it, which is tough for little ones.
But to re-assure you, they don't take any action on it until well after they are one, and the vast majority clear up by then.
I was wondering this myself, DS was born with a yukky eye and its progressively got worse. The saline wipes and breast milk only do so much. Im hoping he will grow out of it as well, i dont think they do any surgury until they are at least 12months old.
And yeah the conjuctivitis remarks get a little old after awhile and you do get sick of explaining thats its not conjuctivitis just simply a blocked tear duct.
MJ had a similar problem.
Although it wasnt infection i used calendula tea when i cleaned her eyes and it went away really quickly.
I dont know if it will work for you, but helped.
If you are interested...
I bought calendula flower tea from a health food shop, brewed the tea, added cool water to cool it and when it was the right temp i would clean both eyes out. Did it after every sleep.
We she got a teething rash or sore bottom i would also add the tea to her bath water and it would clear it right up.
I also used it as a bum wiping solution with home made wipes and we never got Nappy rash - other than when she had gastro...
Hope this helps, if not with you, but might be useful to someone else.
I hope your DD's eyes right themselves soon
xo
Yes, my DD was born with both eyes blocked from birth, and weeping yellow gunk when infected,or otherwise constantly streaming tears.
They try not to probe before 12 months in Australia, as most of the time (90%ish) grow out of it when the tubes grow bigger as the face grow bigger, and the blockage naturally passes through into the nasal cavity. They probe earlier than that in 3rd world countries as you can pick up nasty infections through your eyes. There is no risk to the eyesight.
If it is yellow gunk, you should be cleaning it every 4 hours or so with saline solution and cotton wool. Use a NEW ball for each swipe (otherwise you reinfect), and clean from the inside corner to the outside. If it is a blockage massaging tear ducts sometimes works, but mostly doesn't. On top of that you should be seeing your GP for antibiotic eye drops, as you need to get rid of the infection (only for the yellowy gunk, not the clear tears, they are fine).
The actually operation is very simple. They will put them under a general (but not tube them, so it is a very very light general), which is really to stop them moving. The will insert the probe down, until they can see/feel that metal probe touching the metal probe going up the nose. Sometimes they have a few bloody tears. My DD had the op at 11 months, and was awake from her light general before i had time to make it to recovery. The post op is just like any kid waking up from an operation.
90% of those that have the probing done once finds it fixes the problem, the other 10% have to try a 2nd probing.
For those in Melb, I can recommend a fantastic paediatric opthamologist & surgeon, who works out of the RCH.
My DD has deformed tear ducts, so we tried a 2nd plastic surgery by 2 ENT surgeons who deal with all the difficult tear duct cases (both paed's and adults) in Vic once she was just under 1.5 years. It has improved it, but hasn't fixed it, so we are going back for our 3rd eye surgery in November if she hasn't outgrown it by then (doubting it). This time we are giving up on her dud ducts and creating new ones for her.
I wouldn't hesitate to go the same route again, it is very minor surgery, it has very very minimal risks, and it has a great chance of fixing the problems. It is uncomfortable for them to always have weeping eyes, and my DD got constant infections. If it isn't fixed by 12 months then it probably won't resolve itself anyway, and you can't exactly send them to school like that. Also, our paed thinks that the constant low grade infections DD had through her eyes contributed (not caused) to her failure to thrive and real issue putting on weight based on the fact that her body had a greater basal metabolic rate due to all the infections she was fighting
P.S. If you do a search you can find other post i have written about us going through this
Last edited by Yael; March 20th, 2010 at 09:10 PM.
DS was born with blocked tear ducts. I think he was about 4mths when it stopped, but does get the weeping back when he has a cold and his nose is blocked. It seems to block his tubes and comes out his eyes.
We have seen a specialist as our GP was concerned at how many times he had the conjunctivitis drops and she had recorded each case as conjunctivitis, but I didnt believe he'd had it as many times his eyes were never red or itchy and it always happened when he had a runny blocked nose. Then just before going to the specialist he did get conjunctivitis and I could really see the difference and new that this wasn't the same as all the previous times. The specialist confirmed that his tubes were still very small and didn't see the need for an operation. They would widen as he got older.
I hear you on the looks and the "not so helpful advice"
Take care you are do everything you can and in the best interest of your LO. The remarks were the thing that got me down hence getting the drops every time as it would instantly clear up the green/yellow muck.
Thanks for all your replies, I like hearing about how you have dealt with the same problem and giving me ideas too.
She was just put on a course of antibiotics 2 weeks ago for her eye but it didn't clear it up. They have been sticky with a yellowish discharge since she was born, its only crusty when she wakes up, like excesss 'sleep'. I will take her back to the doc's on Monday incase it is still infected, hope not though. 15 weeks is a bit young for a second dose of antibiotics.
eeep the operation sounds horrible I know its probably not that bad but i think i will be quietly freaking out about the possibility or him needing to go under to get it fixed
Ubba82 - the MHN that i talked to about DS's eye told me that if i took him to a doctor for it they will most likely perscribe antibotics but in the long run it wont fix anything, she said its better off just waiting it out but obvisouly if the eye is getting to the point where they cant open it then go see the doctor. So far thankfully is hasnt been do bad, he has his days where it yellow and gunky then the next day it could be completely fine. Ill be glad when he either grows out of it or it gets fixed....cant be comfortable at all
I know this is an old thread, but I just wanted to pop back in and update because DS had the operation this morning for his blocked tear duct. I was nervous about the whole thing, but it really went super smoothly. The operation is really quick and DS is recovering very well, both from the surgery and the general.
So if anyone has an little one with this problem, try not to worry so much- even if they need the operation its really not so bad. Happy to answer any questions.
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Blocked tear duct
Has anyone elses child had to have this done or has it cleared itself?
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