Tear Duct

Both of my children had this, but our doctor had us massage the duct to help it open, which I think really does help. You should ask the doctor about this before doing it, but we were instructed to rub up the inner side of the nose (between the nose and the eye) toward the eye, to help unclog the duct. This makes the eye water a bit if done right.

I am sure different doctors have different approaches with this, so check first, but this did work for us.

Hi A.,

I would wait it out. It could take as ong as them being 2 years old before it unclogs, as it was with my daughter. She is 3 now and now it flows like a faucet! As time goes on, if it becomes an issue, they can do a very minor surgery as she gets older where they put in a tiny tube in her tear duct to open it. My girlfriends daughter had this done and it was very simple.

Good luck and stop worrying (easier said than done, I know!!). :-)

-Char

My friend's son had this. They actually did a procedure that opened the tear duct because it was not opening on it's own. he's 5 now and doesn't have any tear duct problems. She was scared of the procedure and it ended up being nothing!! Best, H.

One of my son's had a "blocked tear duct." The MD had us gently massage (with clean hands) the corner of the one eye several times a day in hopes of clearing it up. At one year of age he had to have surgery to open the tear duct. It was a minor procedure and he was fine after the surgery and thankfully no more gookey eye.

A friend of ours had a son with this. They had to have surgery to unclog it. Minor surgery, and it is very common I guess.

Also, my son had a clogged duct when he was 6 mo or so. Dr. gave us some drops and it went away.

Hi A.,
Both of my children had problems w/ blocked tear ducts. My son's left duct opened up amazingly after a terrible infection, but the right never did and required gentle tear duct probbing by a pediatric opthomologist under anesthesia at age 11 months...best thing we ever did!!! My daughter had blocked ducts on/off for her 1st couple of months but they opened up on their own. Remember the discharge bothers you more than her, so don't excessively wipe...that just irritates her eyes even more. Be patient, they might open up on their own soon. Babies start to cry tears around 6-8 weeks...so hopefully her ducts will begin to drain better soon.