What to do if your child's tear duct is blocked

Everyone has two tear ducts in their eyes. When people are sad and cry, the tear glands will flow tears out through the tear ducts. Many children have blocked tear ducts, which prevents tears from flowing out. Over time, this may cause scabs on the eyelids and may lead to dacryocystitis. Let’s take a look at what to do if your child’s tear duct is blocked.

For children whose parents complain of tearing, excessive eye mucus, crusting on the eyelids, pus reflux when pressing the lacrimal sac area, or reflux of lacrimal duct lavage fluid, they are diagnosed with congenital lacrimal duct obstruction or neonatal dacryocystitis. It is recommended that you go to the hospital for treatment. Once the diagnosis is confirmed, you should actively receive treatment and do not delay your child. The following treatment methods will be introduced to you.

For children with a clear diagnosis, routine antibiotic eye drops are used three times a day, combined with massage of the lacrimal sac area and conservative treatment for 2-3 months. If conservative treatment is not effective, lacrimal duct probing surgery can be chosen for treatment.

Ophthalmologists believe that if conservative treatment is ineffective, tear duct probing is ineffective, and older children should choose tear duct intubation surgery as soon as possible, because long-term tear duct obstruction and inflammatory stimulation can cause serious complications for children; they should go to a regular ophthalmology hospital as soon as possible to avoid misdiagnosis and treatment, which will worsen the condition. Parents say that their children have tears, a lot of eye mucus, crusts on the eyelids, pus reflux when pressing the lacrimal sac area, or reflux of lacrimal duct irrigation fluid. Your child should be in the early stage of neonatal dacryocystitis.

1. Press the lacrimal sac backward and downward, the residual membrane of the lacrimal duct may be broken, 3-5 times a day;

2. Pressurized flushing of the tear duct, the number of flushing and interval time shall be determined according to the child's condition;

3. Apply antibiotic eye drops four times a day for 2-3 weeks.

Massage method for the lacrimal sac area: Parents should perform moderate massage on the lacrimal sac area from top to bottom on the side of the nose bridge of the child's affected eye (medically known as the inner side). When massaging, do not slide or rub your fingers on the skin. Instead, use your thumb close to the skin to apply force to the lacrimal sac area under the skin to slide and massage it from top to bottom. This kind of massage can be performed 4-6 times a day.

At the same time, antibiotic eye drops (such as Tobrex, Telibitol eye drops, etc.) should be used 3-4 times a day, 1-2 drops each time. Use a cotton swab to wipe away the tears before applying the medicine. If the effect is not good, the tear duct probing must be performed. However, there are avoidances in tear duct probing, and repeated probing can easily cause false channels in children. If massage does not work, you can go to the hospital and let an ophthalmologist perform tear duct flushing and tear duct probing for your child. However, there are avoidances in tear duct probing, and repeated probing can easily cause false channels. In this case, tear duct intubation surgery should be performed as soon as possible, otherwise it may cause inflammation of the tissues around the lacrimal sac, or form a lacrimal sac fistula, which is a fistula that is extremely difficult to completely cure and will also affect the appearance. The tear duct probing surgery uses the most advanced tear duct intubation system in the world. Only one intubation will cause only the same interference to the child's tear duct as an ordinary tear duct probing treatment and will not cause any damage to the child's tear duct. It is recommended to go to a regular hospital.