Help with My Baby's eye.....blocked Tear Duct

Hi J. -

My 22 year old son had the same thing. After trying breast milk and oinments, we took him to a pediatric opthomologist. This was and still is a somewhat common conditon and while it sounds painful, he just did a gentle probe to open the tear duct. My son never had any problems from then on. My youngest son never had this issue. Best of luck!

my baby also was born with blocked tear ducts in both eyes. We finally took her to the eye doctor at about 8 months. He said to massage the duct and wait another couple months. Personally I wanted it taken care of and opened right then but my husband convinced me to wait. Within the next two months they opened by themselves. The massage worked.

You can use warm cloth for 5 mintues 3 times a day and see if it works, My daughter had the same problem when she was born good luck

My duaghter had this. It cleared up a little after she was 1. We could always tell when she had an ear infection because her eye goup would get worse.

We used a warm wash cloth and would gently massage her eye. Our ped did discuss our options, though. If it doesn't clear up, they are put under general anesthesia and the duct is cleared out. We didn't really want this to happen, so we just waited it out.

Dear J.,

My daughter had the same condition at birth. Her eye was always goopy and eyelids always irritated. Our pediatrician told us to wait it out, because he & I both opposed the surgical procedure. He said it might take until 18 months old or so. It did! But it magically "fixed itself" 3 days before the surgery appointment that I had finally resigned to do. No surgery req'd. Happy ending. :)

hey J.,
Try to be patient. It will take care of it self. Have you tried massage around the area to help the tear duct move along? Our daughter was born with the same thing. It took about 6 to 9 months. Her eye always looked terrible and it really bothered us. Then one day this big piece of gunk came out and like that her eye was clear and beautiful. While she had the clogged tear duct her eye lashes on that eye grew in slower also. In the end it does all work out. Do you use warm compresses on his eye a couple times a day? I hope this will help you out. I do know how you feel.

A.

My son had this, and he ended up having surgery to clear it. The surgery was only about 45 mins. long and he was cured as soon as it was over. By the way, he was about 10 months old when he had the surgery.

My son had the exact same problem. There were days when his eye got really, really red. My pediatrician said to gently massage the inside corner of his eye, near his nose. We did that off and on, but he really didn't like it too much. Then one day a couple of weeks ago it suddenly cleared up on its own. He woke up and it was gone. He was about 5.5 months at the time it cleared.

OK, I'm cracking up at Susan G's response! Worth a try!

We dealt with this, and I just massaged it each morning and night, and it did eventually go away. It's frustrating, but it does go away.

My daughter had this when she was an infant but hers didn't gunk up it just looked watery all the time. It wasn't going away so when she was 11 months old we sheduled the surgery with no health insurance and a week before the surgery it cleared up!! Thank God! So be patient it will go away it just may take awhile.

My 9 month old had the same thing. She was given eye drops to use only when there was the yellow gunk. Her eye was always weepy looking. Dr also said to massage the eye in a circular motion an the inside coner of her eye. Still, not much difference. I fiinally put the ointment they put in her eye at birth for 2 days and it is gone.
Hope this helps.

Edward Fong OD (optometrist)
4427 Highway 6 # L
Sugar Land, TX 77478
###-###-####

I have three boys and the oldest and middle sons both went through this. What helped for them was to use a warm washrag on the eye and to massage it out. They were both almost a year old before it finally went away. The alternative was to have the doctor take a thin wire and put it in the tear duct to unblock it. There was NO WAY I was going to allow that. It is frustrating, but let nature take its course.

My daughter had the same problem when she was born. It would gunk up every night and she would wake up looking like a pirate with one eye glued shut. Our pediatrician gave us a simple solution, which was to gently massage the inner corner of the eye every day. He told us to very gently rub one finger between the side of her nose and the corner of her eye. You can do it as often as it needs to be done, it doesn't hurt at all. It took probably a few days of massage and the duct opened up by itself, no eyedrops needed. In fact, my adult friend just had a similar blocked duct and I told her about the massage and it cleared hers right up as well.

I am the mother of 2, 1 boy and 1 girl. My son has had trouble with his eyes since about 6 months old. He has gone thru three surguries for strubismus (crossed eyes) and is now 9 yrs old and does not have any problems. I truly believe in a doctor from Austin Texas by the name of Dr.Busse , he use to be in the Austin Hospital I think the name of the hospital was Breckenridge, this doctor is wonderful with children and parents. There was only 2 Pediatric Opthamoligist in the state of Texas back then, but I highly suggest that you see one as soon as possible for your son. There is a big difference in regular eye doctors and Pediatric ones.
Good Luck, T. G.

It's hard to keep the warm rag on his eyes. I always would have them lay on my lap and sing to them or something for a few minutes. Also, take advantage of when they nap (as long as you're checking on them). The warm rag will stay on better than when they are awake. But, needless to say, it's the warm compress/rag that works (also on pink eye and sties (sp?).

I have a son with blocked tear ducts and missing tear ducts. What I found works really well is to massage just below the eye to unclog (if on the bottom). He also gets kind of "goopy" once in a while and the school always thinks he has pink eye. I get a prescription called TobraDex from his eye doctor. That clears up his goopy stuff overnight and also clears his ducts. I love the stuff. And, I don't have to deal with the pink eye debate at school, because this is the treatment for it.

Good luck,
J.
www.livetotalwellness.com/janislanz

my daughter had one when she was an infant, my grandma told me to use warm compresses SEVERAL times a day...warm not hot and very moist wash cloth, just lay it there, do not rub it, just let it sit for a few minutes at a time. after a few days it cleared up, and never came back. Gotta love those simple down home solutions...

My son had that. We got a warm/wet washrag & held it over the eye & that really helps. The warmth makes it feel better & it will also wipe away the drainage.

hi, my baby had the same thing1 Just be careful with what you are using to wipe it. My pedi suggested boiling water then letting it cool; take a cotton ball and dip it in water and gently rub away the guck. this seemed to work and it did eventually clear up. if we used our fingers or a tissue, it would get red, so just use something completely sterile (that is why you would use cooled boiled water instead of just tap.) hope that helps. try not to worry!

Okay dont know if you're breast feeding, but mothers milk is suppose to help unclog them.... but just use a little

I have a baby boy and a baby girl in my home care setting and both came to me after birth the same way. One has a problem with the right eye the other with the left. The doctors told them the same thing. They did give the girl some med's so it would stop for a family wedding but it came right back. I guess this is just something that we have to sit back and wait and see. I am sure this troubles you but I guess it is more normal then we realize.

wow! i feel like i know exactly what you mean!!! i had 2 kids that had this. my daughter had it for the first 3 months or so. was not severe. my son, on the other hand, is now 21 months old. we battled it up until january. i had taken him to the eye dr and he wanted to do surgery it was so bad. i did the warm compress and the gentle masage on his nose to try to pop it but none of that worked. it was so bad that i had to clean his eye every 30 minutes or so. all of his pictures he has crusty eyes but i could not control it. i had the surgery scheduled and once the dr told me about it i did some soul searching and cancelled it. no way could i put my baby to sleep. there are horrible side effects of putting a baby that small completely under. plus, he would have bloody tears coming from his eyes. i could not do that to him. i had a one on one with God and asked him to show me the Lords healing and with that and maintaining thw warm compresses on the eye and the masage, in january it went away!!!!! it took 19 months, but it went away. with out sergery. the dr was kinda mad i didnt want to go that route but i think he wanted the money. he was a dr in stone oak. anyway, it will not hury him and it will heal eventually so i recommend just keep maintaining it. it would be differant if he was an adult but since he is a baby he wont sit still long enough to pop the duct open. an adult would be able to have it popped in the dr's office. kids tend to wiggle and so that is why they have to put the babies to sleep. let us know what you decide.

Hello J.. I have not personally had this problem with my children, however, my nephews both had blocked tear ducts and had them eaisly corrected, as babies, with surgery and are doing well and have not had problems since. If you have not gotten a second opinion, I would suggest one. There is no reason for your son or you to suffer with something that can be corrected. If you're looking for other doctors, the one I'm currently going to for my daughter's eye issue (and who is also the doctor that performed the surgery on both my nephews) is Dr. Evelyn Paysee. She is part of Texas Childrens and a GREAT pediatric opthimologist. Her number is ###-###-####. I hope this information helps you.

My daughter had the same problem when she was born. The Dr. that I had at the time said that he would like to run a wire in the tear duct to unstop it. That was totally out of the question, I coundn't even put my baby through that, he then told us that it would become uncloged by the time she was one. It was a little later than one but it did start to clear up. She had the running eye and the gook, but try not to rub it just pat it dry or clean. Just like you would if you had a sore nose, It will get raw and sore. IT WOULD BE A GOOD IDEA TO KEEP THE DROPS OR EVEN A GEL. THAT IS WHAT I PUT IN MY DAUGHTERS EYE. SHE IS NOW NINE AND WE HAVEN'T HAD ANY PROBLEMS AT ALL.

Now don't laugh - but this really works! It did for both of my boys. It's an old hispanic thing from South Texas... You take the first wet diaper of the morning and place it on the eye (the outside of the diaper - not the inside!) for just a bit. Yes, it can be a disposable diaper. It has something to do with the warmth of wet diaper and the tee-tee. I don't know how or why - but it works. I thought I would fool my caregiver (who is hispanic and told me of this) and just use warm wash cloths. It didn't work. I finally tried it - and voila! Done! Hey, it can't hurt, can it?

Both of my girls had this; I hear it's very common. But don't let it go untreated! My dr gave us a ointment to rub on her eye (lid and corner) and instructions to massage the tear duct to move the blockage out. If you need, I can email you the name of my daughters eye medication. It works great and cleared up the problem which was reoccurring. Just don't let it go untreated especially if it's bothering your son!

Have you been doing tear duct(lacrimal) massage? That has really helped to open up the duct. We do it in the hospital all the time on babies with blocked tear ducts. Wipe the affected eye inside to out with one swipe of a gauze moistened with saline. Then with a fingertip massage the nasal bridge where the eye meets the nose. We typically do this every 3-4 hours around the clock when the baby eats.

Our daughter (now 26 years old & 2 daughters of her own)had this when she was born. It did not clear up on it's own so she had what the DR called a tear duct probe done at 13 months and again ai 19 months. It was an out patient procedure. Just keep gently eashing with a warm washcloth and some gentle masage in the corner of the eye. If he has to have the probe done hang in there, it works, just not only on the first try. My daughter suffered no ill effects.

I think I would see an opthamologist (not an optomotrist). They are specialist of the eye and its inner workings. A eye is a very serious thing to mess with and this could cause you problems down the road. However, you may need to see an allergy doctor. Depending on where you live, it may be allergies and you have to use a warm wash rag to open it in the mornings. Reguardless. I would not just wait it out.

My son has the same problem. It always looks so terrible and is almost completely gunked shut in the morning. My doctor told us to massage and press on the inner part of his eye towards his nose to unplug the tear duct (ask the Dr. to show you the spot and the amount of pressure to put on it).
It actually worked on one eye, but his right eye has had no success. My son is 6 months old now, and my Dr. said if his eye does not get better by his 9 month check up he wants us to visit an Opthamologist. They have a procedure to unplug the tear duct with a prop, I believe.

I wish you luck. I know it is frustrating. The doctor said it is very common and most children grow out of it, but I don't remember ever seeing any other babies with it out and about. My son is so cute but looks so pitiful!!

I don't really have any suggestions, but my baby had the same thing but only for a couple of days and it went away before I could bring her to the doctor... good luck with it and I hope it goes away soon.... there is nothing worse than to see your child hurt or be in discomfort

Hi!! My Name is M..

I have the same problem with my 2 yr old. He was born with the blocked tear duct and they didn't do the surgery until he was 1. Well he still has the same problem and now they are actually going to have to drill the hole to make a tear duct. The procedure is not that bad. The 1st 3 procedures he had a really thin tube inserted into his tear duct but now they do have to make the hole and leave some tubing in there so it will not close. He will have to keep that in for about 6 months and after that the Dr. said he should be good. If you have any more questions feel free to ask.

Hi J. N,
when my 5 yr old was about 2 months old she had the same problem. It was upseting because the eye looked irritated all the time. The matter in the eye was overwhelming to. Your Doctor is right it will go away. What we did was I would clean the eye with chamomile (room temp) that way the eye would not get more irritated. Don't worry his eye will get better. My daughter is 5 now and has no problems.

Blocked tear ducts are very common. I had one, as have 2 of my 3 children. They will clear up. If you gently massage (rub) the inner corner of the eye, it helps. Also when you wipe, use a warm wet cloth and hold it in place for a few seconds before you wipe it away. You should do this as many times as needed throughout the day.

Both my children had this...warm wet wash cloths often through out the day, and massage the side of the nose...I believe www.askdrsears.com has an illustration of where to massage. My DH was the master tear duct de-blocker...he would say, "give that (boy or girl) here and daddy will fix it!" He loved doing the warm compresses and massage. I guess it was something HE could do for our kids. Good luck and they will grow out of it.

Warm wash rag and soft massage, then squeeze some breast milk in there or a drop of colloidal silver if you're not nursing.-A.

My now 5 year old son had this some thing. My doc told me to rub outward from his nose right under his eye and this will help it. Our son was about 5/6 months old before it didn't happen all the time, then after a few more months, it went away all together...I was afraid they would have to do surgery to correct it, but as they get older, it does get better...hang in there!!

Both of my boys had clogged tear ducts. My first ended up getting the surgery to to unblock it at 20 months, the other cleared up by 2 months. If you are breastfeeding you can also squirt some of that in his eye, it has natural antiseptic qualities and doesn't sting their eyes.
I would give it some more time to see if it will clear up on it's own. I know how hard it is to contastantly be wiping it and having people comment that your child looks like he's crying all the time, but it's better than surgery. I've heard that up until 9 months they can do the unblocking without putting them under, so that's one thing to consider. We went to Dr. McCash for a ped Opthomologist. He's really nice and seemed good, but the waiting time at his office is ridiculous.
Good luck!
A.

My now 13 year old daughter was also born with a blocked tear duct. We massaged her duct several times during the day and applied warm rags to it. Warm rags are also key when you are cleaning it during the day, it loosens the gunk and makes it a little easier to wipe away. (this also works GREAT with crusty booger noses later in their young lives). Hope this helps! C.

my son had the same problem and i did what wendy did, massaged it when i changed the diaper (wash hands first!). also, if your breastfeeding, spray him in the eye with your milk a little. i know it sounds strange, but your breastmilk is very healing. i did it by accident and it cleared it up in the short term. eventually it unplugged.

My daughers had this problem also. The pedi recommended that we wait until one year to see if it would open naturally. This worked well with my oldest, but did not work with my youngest. We went to a pedi eye specialist and they did an in office procedure to probe the duct. It was fairly straightforward and did not take very long. We went back a couple of weeks later for a follow up. Everything went fine and we noticed immediate results. It was not an easy procedue to watch as they must use a straight jacket to restrain the child and then insert a very long needle to open the duct. However, it sounds like it is a very routine thing. It must be somewhat genetic as I also had the problem as an infant. I can relate to your frustration... it's difficult to see your child with eyes that look 'sick' all the time. Good luck. Let me know if you need the name of the eye Dr. I can probably dig it up.

I personally have this problem.. my tear ducts are no longer blocked, but still do not function as they should. My optomitrist prescribed nightly eye scrubs. Each night, I use a baby wash cloth & baby shampoo to scrub my eyes at the base of the lashes. It took some time (maybe a couple of weeks) for the gunk to completely clear, but it works. We used the same treatment on our son when he had this issue around 6 months old and it helped him too.

You've got a lot of advice already and couldn't read through them all but my doctor prescribed "Erythromycin Ophthalmic Ointment" and it helped my son who also has a blocked tear duct. Also, make sure you constantly keep the eye clean.

My daughter had a blocked tear duct. We massaged it everytime we changed her diaper. It was just a soft motion from the corner of her eye to the nose.

All 3 of my kids had this. In my experience, it gets better, but never goes away until the baby gets old enough to outgrow it (6 months or so in my case). To make it get better, I use a warm wet washcloth and put it over his face and rub both of my pinkey fingers in his tear duct area at the same time for 30 seconds or so. I also wipe the stuff away with the washcloth at the same time. When I am at home, I do this every time I change his diaper. Also, twice a day, I rub (with my pinkey fingers) some prescription ointment into his tear duct area. This makes him look normal and pretty-eyed in between rubbings. But, if I slack off and forget to do the rubbings, his eyes get worse each day.

Oh, poor baby. My 1-year old had that also. His pediatrician just told us to keep the eye clean with a warm rag and a little circular motion. It went away right before he turned one. I felt bad for him though always having a cruddy eye. But he should grow out of it :)

My niece had the same thing when she was born. My sister's doctor just told her to massage it several times a day and to lay a warm wet washcloth on the face just under the duct for a few minutes before she massaged it which will help loosen anything in the duct. They just said that it would eventually mature and open up and it did! This process seems to make it happen sooner and helps to clear out the gunk so it doesn't constantly look bad. I hope it works for you. I would run it by your doctor first of course and see what they say. Good Luck!

I have a 1 year old baby boy who had a blocked tear duct when he was smaller. It will eventually work its way out. Keep the eye area clean. If you notice the yellowish gunk in his eye, wipe it away with a warm wash cloth. Always wipe it down and away from his eye. He may not like it, but it will definately prevent it from getting infected. Another thing we found that helped was to gently massage underneath the inner corner of the eye that is blocked. Hope this helps.

My baby had the same thing at 3weeks. I learned this from a friend and it worked for me in two days. Brew one bag of Chamomille tea. Allow the tea to cool. Then dip a cotton bag into the tea and swipe the eye several times and massage the duct with the soaked cotton ball. I did this a couple times a day. Her eye cleared up in 2 days. I hope this works for you. M. K.

This happened to my son twice. I took him to his Pedi, in Wharton, the first time because I thought he had an infection.

Literally, all the doc did was firmly rub the crease of the eye (tear duct). He told me to do this a couple of times a day. It took 2 days and his eye was better. The pressing and rubbing opened the tear duct. They are narrow and get blocked easily at that age. I had to do this again later, and it worked as well. I did it when I bathed him.

If that does not help the problem, I would suggest you take him to an Opthamologist. Locally, South Texas Medical Clinic, in Wharton, has 2 that are great: Dr. Snelling and Dr.Metcalf. There is also Dr. Tran, who is an Optometrist.

I had the same problem with one of mine and I used a warm washcloth to apply some moist heat a few times a day. I hope that helps.

Don't worry! My 2nd baby (first son) had the same problem. The Dr told us that if it didn't get better by the time he was one he would need to have it fixed. He is now six ad has no problems at all. It was a tough time getting past all the wiping the gunk away but the more I seamed to do it the less irritated it looked. It will get better I promise!! Good luck!

Hey, Hello, I went exactly thru the same thing like you with my first son-- he is now going on 4 in june, I dont know if you believe in natural remedies you know with herbs but my grandmother told me to make a chamomile tea and let it cool off then with a cotton swab apply it to the eye of the baby like if you were going to clean it you know to remove that yellow gunk 3-5 times a day and with in a week or a week in half it was gone believe me gone forever. Hope it works for you too.

My sister had blocked tear ducts with all 3 of her kids. She would gently massage the duct area a few times a day to relive the pressure for the babies. This seemed to help their comfort level. Two of them grew out of it after a year, and one had to have the duct opened for them by a doctor after a year. It will more then likely go away all on its own.. but I am always an advocate of a second opinion if you are feeling uneasy.

My daughter had this same issue. It went away. My doctor told us most doctors won't even operate on a child younger than 1, so if you find one that will, beware. Just be patient. What my doctor said is that some babiest take more time for the ducts to open than other babies. I know its gross and frustrating but you have to think about what is best for your baby in the long run and enduring a surgery with anesthesia is not good for a baby less than 1 unless absolutely life threateningly serious. My husband is a doctor and agreed with our doctor to wait and by 10 months, it was gone. Hope that helps. Hang in there.

Two of my children had the same condition when they were infants. Their eyes would get so matted up that they could not even open them. We had surgery on my son's eyes when he was 7 months old and that corrected the problem. When my daughter was 10 months old her ducts finally began to work correctly and surgery wasn't necessary. The surgery was done in Hobbs, but I don't remember who the DR was. I would take your child to a specialist and see what they would recommend. The procedure wasn't too uncomfortable and it took about 15 minutes. Talk to your DR and see if they would recommend anyone.

My son had the same thing when he was born. A nurse told me that if you are breast feeding to squirt some breast milk in his eye everytime you feed him. Breast milk works wonders.

My son was born with the exact same problem. His pedi wanted to insert a wire into his tear duct to open it up......needless to say I was horrified and said absolutely not! I read up on it, and learned that if you rubbed from the corner of the eye (between the bridge of the nose and the eye) from top to bottom, with your finger over and over several times a day that it would open it up. It worked!! It took a few days, but it finally worked. I also used warm, wet washcloths before and after to clean the gunk......I think the warmth helped some as well. Good luck to you and your new baby!

Hey J.. My baby girl had the same thing. What we did was massaged the duct, use your pinky finger & gently rub in the corner near his nose. Do this often, like maybe every time you change his diaper or something like that. Also, when she was asleep & I could keep an eye on her, I took a piece of gauze & dampened it with warm water & kept that on her eye. hope this helps! H. B.

We dealt with this for the first 7 months and believe it or not it did actually clear up on its own. We had ointments and drops for most of the time. The eye doctor recommended these eye cleaning pads which we did at bath time which helped lessen the accumulating of gunk during the night - they are in the contact lens area of the drugstore - sorry I do not remember the name but they were like gauze squares with eye cleanser.
Another great tip was when I nursed her or she got a bottle we would put a very warm waschloth over her eyes and it helped loosen the goop, I think it was comforting too.
She is 11 months now and we have had no issue for the last 4 months. Hang in there.....good luck!

My daughter had the same thing. We took her to two specialists. Both stated that there was a simple procedure to unblock it, but recommended waiting until she was older. She totally outgrew it when she was five years old.

My daughter had this when she was born. The dr gave us some drops and told us to massage her tear duct every day. The massaging helped and it worked itself out. Good luck! Let me know how it goes.

my daughter had the same problem, her doctor opted for surgery. It was done as an outpatient surgery, and she was fine. She was three months when we did the surgery.

My daughter also had a blocked tear duct and just like your doctor said it will clear up. My midwife suggested that several times a day hold a warm damp cloth over the eye, especially in the mornings when it is so matted. Sometimes gentle massage helps. Be encouraged, it does go away and yes it does look worse than it really is. Now my daughter has beautiful blue eyes. Something else that works is to put a drop or two of breast milk in it- I know it sounds weird but breast milk is very antibacterial and will keep infection down. I did it and she never got an infection from the blockage. Good luck and I hope this helps.

Each of my two daughters had this problem in one eye. We did "lacrimal duct massage" for their eyes. I don't know if it helped, but their blockages resolved between 7-9 months. The girls are 17 mos and 4 years old but will have a "gunky"-looking eye when they're coming down with a cold even now. See http://www.drgreene.com/21_1035.html for more information. Good luck!

My second son had the same thing and it did resolve itself after a couple of months. I massaged it a couple of times a day (your pediatrician can show you how) and used warm compresses to clean it. I have heard from MANY moms that chiropractors seem to have a lot of success in treating the stubborn ones...a friend of mine actually had scheduled the procedure with her doctor to open the duct, but the chiropractor worked instead.....unfortunately, I don't know of a good one in SA....my friends that tried it are in Dallas and on the east coast-sorry

Hi J...

Both of my boys suffered with blocked tear ducts from the time they were born until about 6 or 7 months. It was a little worse with my second born as, like your son, would wake up with yellow matted shut eyes. Thankfully I never had to use prescriptions. With the advice of their peditrician all I did was consistantly massage the tear duct with a warm wet wash cloth. I did it every morning and every night to help unblock the tear duct. It took about a month or so but it finally cleared up. Hope this helps.

B. C.

My son Hunter had that exact same thing. He is now almost 4 yrs old. We did have to have a very minor procedure done. There was no getting around having it done. What the dr did was sedate him, at an out patient surgery center, and open the tear ducts on the top and bottom of the lids and then for the duct at the corner of the eye he inserted a tube to drain into the sinus cavity. That tube stayed for 6 months, to insure that the duct did not close again. You could not even see the tube. My son's tear ducts were completely shut. I felt so sorry before the had this done, his eye was always getting infected and constant tearing where the skin under the eye was so irritated from constant moisture. To this day, if the weather changes, Hunter does get a slight irritation in that eye, but it clears up very well. I hope this helped, I have been thru what you did, my advice to you is to get it done as soon as possible, while your child is still young, Hunter was 2yrs old when I finally got enough courage to have this done.

J. N,
My son had the same issue. He is now 13 months and his eye is fine. My doctor had me massage his eye several time a day to work the gunk out of his tear duct. I would massage the area under his tear duct in a circular motion. Doing this reduces the redness and puffiness cause it forces the gunk out.

Hope this helps.

T.

Our doctor advised us to massage the area right beside the corner of the eye twice day. It did the trick,as we never had to go to the next step which is a small in office procedure. Maybe try when he is feeding or sleepy. We did this the first couple of months, so had no resistance. Just put a little pressure and move finger up and down.
A.

That happened with our son, now 12. The 1st pedi told us to massage the duct. It never helped and we felt like we were doing something wrong. We switched pedi's for another opinion and had to get surgery for it. I think he was around 6 months old.
It's like an out patient thing, they gave him something to make him drowsy, and unclogged the duct. Before that, his eyes watered all the time, and when he'd wake up, his eyes would be all crusted up. He was fine after the surgery and we've never had any problems since.

Hope this helps,

S.

Have you sought the help of an ophthalmologist?

I do think eventually it will work its way out. But when I was little and had eye problems due to allergies, my mom put just a tiny bit of vaseline in the worst areas so that in the morning, we could usually just wipe the gunk off instead of scratching it off. Oucchhh! Hugs to you, I know it hurts you, probably more than him.

My son had the same thing. It started shortly after he turned a couple months old. Everyone kept telling me "do you kno that your son's eye is runny?" As if it hadn't occurred to me. At nine months his tear duct probed by a pediatric opthamologist. Basically, they took a tube and ran in through the tearduct into his nose. They say it orks about 80% of the time. Unfortunately, it had no effect on my son. By the time he as three, he outgre it. He is almost ten and has no problems ith his eyes or vision. Probably, it's just going to take time and patience. GOod luck! D.

We had the same situation with our daughter. We had agreed with the pediatrician that if it didn't clear up by the time she reached 12 months, we would have an operation. Our doctor had said that she wouldn't know if it was an under developed duct or a blockage until they operated. Around 9 months, it was suddenly better. We will never know why. Maybe our daughter just had a good sneeze.

oh man i remember going through this and it sux.
my daughter had it till she was ten mths old and all of a sudden was gone.
I mean all we could do was the ointment that the pedi prescribed and massages around the eye and warm rags..I remember people asking o does she have pink eye or is she sick or why is she crying ughh but then it went away and now its just a far far away memory.
and i dont think it ever bothered her. she never whined when all the junk was in there.
She just didnt like the warm rag time but it needed to be done.

J.,

I had this problem with my daughter when she was only 3-4 months old. The Dr told me when I gave her baths to make sure I cleaned it with a really warm towel and to massage around the tear duct. This did not work the first day but it did help it a lot after a couple of days... Hope it gets better for the little guy. :)

Hi J.,

My baby girl had lots of blocked tear ducts but not as serious as yours. Just keep gently cleaning the eye with a warm cotton wash cloth, that should help clear the duct and provide comfort to your little one. I would also suggest a second opinion, waiting a full year for nature to take care of itself sounds a little harsh.

Good luck, S.

All three of my daughters had this as well as myself when I was a baby. Mine ended up in surgery to get rid of the blockage but, my daughters cleared up on their own. I used a combination of the eye drops and massaged the tear duct three times a day with a warm compress and it cleared up and was gone in two weeks. There are two different kinds of drops. One worked and one didn't. I wish I remembered the names, but this was 6 years ago. Hope it helps.

i would wait until almost one year before resorting to surgery. we did the surgery on my son when he was 11 months and it was really traumatic for my husband and me as well as my son. I would really research it before you do it so you know what to expect. Kathryn Musgrove at Houston eye associates would be a really great doctor to go to for this procedure. I wished we would have gone to her. We went to her for a follow up because I believed my sons eye was still blocked but she said that there was nothing for us to worry about.

Our daughter had the same thing (only it was in 1 eye). I was worried the entire year that she wasn't seeing well because of all of the drainage. I finally scheduled the tear duct surgery to have it un-clogged when she turned 1; 2 days before her 1st birtday it was fine - no joke; we couldn't believe it! So, it can happen that it corrects itself by 1, but I can completely sympathize with you regarding the drainage. We used to massage her tear duct frequently which might help. You just use the pad of your pinky and swirl in a circular motion where her eye meets her nose at the duct there. Good luck!

My daughter had this too, unfortunately, it did not clear up by 18 months old and she did have to have surgery for it. It was so blocked up that the surgeon actually initially thought that she didn't have a tear duct. Fortunately, all turned out fine and since the surgery she's never had a problem again! Don't get discouraged, it will be resolved one way or another, wish all the problems with the kiddos had that guarantee.

My son had the same problem of clogged tear duct. my doctor also said it will eventually work its way better. But the other thing
she was to massage the area several times a day. If it continues for too long I would ask about the procedure of clearing it. I think its something like threading a line through to unclog the duct. Hope this helps. just remember to massage the area where its clogged, it will help.

My daughter is 7 months old now, but when she was itty bitty, she had the same problem. I just kept a warm wash cloth on her eye every second I was holding her. Which was most of the time 'cuz she's so cute. It went away in about 3 days. The key factor is to keep the wash cloth warm.

Good Luck!
A.

My son was also born with a blocked tear duct. I was told that it would either go away on its own or he would have to have surgery. By 1 yr. old it had not gone away and the doctor started talking about surgery. We could not afford the expense at the time and I'm glad we did not proceed since at about 15 months old, it cleared up and went away.
My son did have 2 different colored eyes for awhile as a result but now that he's grown, they both look the same.

I'll look it up again, my children are 20, 16, and 10 but if I remember corretcly it may have been neomycyn or bacitracin that worked for my middle one. And of course you know the soothing warm cloths or cotton balls she seemed to like them better, to get the gunk away. You may condiser changing pediatricians too, that's too long

Hi J.,
My son started developing a blocked tear duct too when he was just a couple weeks old. You've probably already tried this, but my doctor told me to gently rub/massage downward on the corner of his eye along the side of his nose (kind of where a nosepiece for glasses goes). He also had drops that first time becaue his eye got all yellow and crusty. So, now whenever his eye starts watering a lot, I rub him there periodically throughout the day. It hasn't gotten infected again since. Hopefully that helps!

If you are breastfeeding, breast milk is the best antibacterial. My son had similar condition a couple of months ago. I put breast milk in his eye as often as I could and would dab the wet not wipe.
Ironically, my husband recently had a bad case of stys in his eye. He tried to get it cleared up for almost a week before it occurred to me to try breast milk. He used drops of breast milk 3 x a day for two days and his eye became completely cleared up.

L. Nelson

J. - all three of my babies had the same thing. I'm sure the doctors told you to massage the inner part of his eye as often as possible - that helps a ton! Also, if you are breastfeeding, spray some breast milk in his eye. I know it sounds very wierd, but I promise it can work! With my first I didn't do this, and it lasted a long time, I got the advice when my second was born and it cleared quickly as well with my third. Good luck!

My son had a blocked tear duct and he ended up having surgery to correct it. The surgery went great and he has not had any more issues. He is going to be 5 in May. He was just over a year old when he had the surgery.

HI J.. My daughter also had tear duct problems & lots of ppl told me to massage the tear duct between the eye & the nose. Mine girl's was due to scar tissue from pink eye, tho, so it didnt work. Sounds like your child could be allergic to something in his formula tho as the yellow stuff is probably an allergic reaction. Milk is bad to cause phlegm. My daughter had to be put on soybean milk & was much happier & didn't spit up like she did on regular formula. Hope this helps, dot

J.,

When my son was that age he had the same problem. His eye would be so bad we had to use a warm rag everyday just so he could get his eye open.You are gonna think I am crazy...... I thought my mom was carzy when she told me this.... but it worked. She told me to take his first morning diaper and rub his eye with it, my thought was NOOOOOOOO way! That's gross! But finally I gave in and did it and it worked. Two of my sisters in law also gave in and it worked for them as well. Apparently it is an old wives tale that works.

I had the same problem with my son when he was a baby. My pediatrician had me to massage just right underneath his eye. The drops always helped but the massaging REALLY helped. I hope this can help you!

My baby, who is now 4, had a blocked tear duct. He grew out of it very quickly. I didn't have a whole lot of problems though. We used the eye drops and it helped trememdously. You may want to check back with your pediatrician. We had a different problem with our son and was told he "would grow out of it" by 3 different doctors until we found someone that actually really knew what he was dealing with and scheduled an immediate procedure to resolve it. Good luck! I always think it's a good idea to get a second opinion.

Both of my boys had blocked tear ducts as infants. I used Eye Bright. It is actually a tea that you can find at any health food store. Make the tea, then soak a cotton ball in it. Gently wipe the cotton ball on the eyelid, being sure to soak the tear duct area. Air dry. This cleared up both of my boys within two weeks---one after a few days and the other in 2 weeks. I've told several friends about this, and it worked for them, too. One friend was told by her pediatrician that her son would have to have surgery since his problem was very severe, and had lasted past 1 year of age. She thought I was crazy, but tried it anyway. It worked for her baby within 3 weeks.

Have you tried massaging the area? Two of my sons had a blocked tear duct and this worked. Here is a link in case you want to read more:

http://www.aboutkidshealth.ca/HealthAZ/Blocked-Tear-Duct....=

Good luck!

J.

I was told to squirt breast milk in his eye! I'm not sure that it worked but it did clear up eventually. It was around 10 months though. I don't think mine was bothered by it so I didn't mind waiting.

My daughter had a blocked tear duck as a newborn. Unfortunely the only thing we could do was massage a warm wash cloth on the eye, directly on the tear duct. It did finally clear up.
Good luck!

My daughter had this too. The Dr.told us to massage her the area in order to work it open and to wipe her eye with a warm rag starting from the eye going towards the nose.

My grandson had the same thing. His mom said to massage the tear duct for a few minutes several times a day. Use your wet
fingertip and wipe corner of the eye like your wiping gunk out of it. It works sometimes if not than tubes. JT had to have tubes.

My daughter had this very same problem from the time she was born until about a year old. I took her to the pedi, and even to a specialist at Texas Children's in Houston. We tried the different meds, but to no avail. Someone (don't remember who, but it was NOT a physician) advised me to dampen a soft washcloth, put a small amount of Johnson's baby shampoo (yellow kind, not the pink with conditioners) onto a small section of the washcloth, and massage the inner corner of the eye and the bridge of the nose where the eye and nose meet. I used relatively firm pressure, which I thought would make my daughter uncomfortable, but she actually seemed to enjoy it. She would lay there and relax while I did it, so I assume it might have felt good. I repeated this process 5-6 times per day for a week or so, and the tear duct cleared up just fine. She's 5 1/2 now, and we've had absolutely no recurrent tear duct problems (or any ophthalmological problems at all!)

Good luck, and I hope it clears up for you. I know how frustrating it is!

yes my kids are all grown up now but my oldest had the same problem. he did grow out of it but everyday I had to dap a hot washcloth on his eye. good luck and I hope this helps

I noticed the same thing in my baby a couple of weeks ago (she is 7 weeks old now) and went to the doctor who prescribed drops for her eyes. While I was there I mentioned that a friend of mine suggested dropping breast milk in her eyes and asked what she thought about that. My doctor said it was a good idea, taht breast milk has antibacterial properties and I could try that instead of the drops if I wanted. So, if you're breastfeeding, you might want to try to squeeze a bit into your son's eyes a couple times a day. It seemed to help with my daughter (I still do have to wipe some goop from her eyes, but nothing horrible). I've also heard people suggest using warm compresses on the eyes and massaging the area around the tear ducts. Hope this helps!

Omg!! I have the same problem with my daughter... The doctor told me to massage the tip of her eyes all the way to the back twice a day using a q-tip... My son had the same problem but the doctor treated his by using ointment... It doesn't seem to work to much and she is now 9 months and her eyes still run and is nearly shut when she wakes in the morning... Hopefully we can get threw this together!:)

Hi J., my first born had blocked tear duct issues in the right eye. He's always looked like popeye!! And still does to this day when he cries. We did see an eye doctor eventually for this problem. He was around six-seven months when we took him in. He gave us some eyedrops and I can't remember if they were prescription or not, but the main goal was to use the eye drops twice a day AND massage the tear ducts, too, so it will release the blockage. He hated the eye drops and the massaging, but the alternative was an invasive eye surgery, and due to his age, he would have to be awake, wrapped up in a papoose (stray jacket style) so he wouldn't move. This was a nightmare to even think about, so eyedrops and massaging constantly and it eventually went away. I can't remember the timeframe, but we were more aware of the problem with the blockage and did not want to do the surgery, so we were constantly massaging. Hope this helps you.

My husband is an ophthalmologist with Medical Center Ophthalmology Associates. He says this is a very easy problem to remedy with a simple probing, usually before the child is 6 months old. (Easy for them, traumatic for you, I know!) They have a very good pediatric ophthalmologist, Dr. Jeffrey Cohen who I'm sure could advise you as to your best options. He works at several locations, one at the Medical Center, one in the Stone Oak area, and one downtown. You can call ###-###-#### if you want to set up an appointment. Hope all works out well!

My first little one had the same problem. We took him to see a specialist (opthamologist) and she found that the problem was a bony obstruction in his nasal cavity. They did a simple surgery (outpatient) that unobstructed his tearduct and he's been fine since! Good luck!

Hi J., my son had the same problem! He was 6 weeks preemie too so the doctor did not give us any eyedrops at all!! What he recommended is that we get a warm washcloth and wipe his eye and massage the tear duct everyday. He said it was because his little tear duct hadn't opened yet but that the warm cloth and massaging would help. It took a while, I want to say at least 2 months, but it finally cleared up on it's own and he is now 8 months old with no problems! Good luck!

Hi J. - I too have children who all seemed to have the same problem. Eye drops always seemed to work well, but you can't use them forever. My doctor told me when my 13 year old was a new born to massage the area around the bridge of his nose, whch will help the duct to drain. This has worked for all 4 of my children and the countless other children I have cared for over the years. Try it maybe it will work for your son. You can also try warm compresses and then massage the bridge - there is also a prescription cream you can use at bedtime around the inside of the eyelid called "Tobrex" which will help with the matting. Good Luck
L.

J.-- One of my great friends had that happen with 2 out of 3 of her babes. I remember she massaged it several times a day, every day with clean hands-- and it helped to work it out way sooner! I'll ask her what else she did--

You can gently massage in a circular motion at the top bridge of the nose and in the corner. I know you are cleaning the eye, make sure you are using warm water. And I know this sounds real strange, but if you are nursing, try dropping a little breast milk in the eye. I know it helps clear pink eye...it might be worth a try. Usually, if clogged tear ducts don't clear up by 9 months of age, there is a little procedure the doctor can do to clear them. Good luck!

Both of my children had a blocked tear duct and it is no fun dealing with the gunk especially in the morning. For both of my children we did the massage and warm cotton ball method. My daughter's cleared up when she was about 6-7 months, ironically after she had pink eye. My son's we had probed when he was 7 months. The reason we opted for the probing before the year marker was two fold. First his eye was a little swollen from the gunk and our pediatrician was worried it would harm his eye development. Second, if you probe it before a year it is done in the specialists office and takes about 3 minutes to probe it and flush it withe saline. If you wait a full year they have to go to the hospital and be put under to have the surgery. I didn't want to go through that. My son had stopped crying before I got to the front door of the office. They of course didn't let me be in the room but they swaddled him up and held him down with a couple people and it was litterly over in three minutes.

my son has this same thing and his pediatric opthamalogist prescribed erythromycin ointment to put on his eyes anytime they are red or gunky!

My second son had the same thing. He had it for about 2 months until my doctor suggested that we try breastmilk. We kept it very clean and try the breastmilk and it worked WONDERS! I did it everytime I fed him, I just squirted alittle in his eyes. It cleared up in about 3 days. It was AMAZING! Good Luck!

My second child had this same problem....he is almost three now. We had to put drops in his eye and kinda massage it in....he did not like it but it kept it from getting hard and crusty....it lasted a few months and then went away.....I know it's frustrating when something is wrong with your baby and you just want to fix it....Ask your doctor about the drops.
A., Tx

My son had the same thing and all the doctor told us to do was wipe his eye with a warm wet cloth as many times as we could. He said to do circular motions when we cleaned it. Also try to keep him from rubbing his eye (their little hands are not always clean); I know that's going to be hard.
It helped my son get better and I hope it will help your baby too.

I know it sounds weird but if you're nursing express a little milk into his eye. My daughter had FUNKY eyes stuff going on and I did this for her, within a few days (2) it was gone. Amazing stuff that breast milk!!

I had a blocked tear duct when I was a baby. My mom took me to the doctor and it was a really simple in and out procedure, I'm almost sure they do it right in the office. They just put a fine wire into the tear duct and "pop" it's not clogged anymore. Your son might cry a little as I'm sure it's uncomfortable, but it's not traumatizing. I don't even remember it. I'm actually suprised the doctor hasn't taken care of it yet. But then that just add's fuel to what I think of medicine around here.