5Month Old Son with Clogged Tear Duct

My daughter had a clogged one and it mysteriously went away when she was a tad over 6 months. The dr gave me some cream to put in it but it never seemed to help much at all and she hated me putting it in her eye. She always had one watery, snotty eye. They also recommended to massage it but that's not too easy to do with a wiggle worm. I know that's not much help. lol It should go away on its own very soon though!

gently massaging the inner corner of the eye with a warm wash cloth is supposed to help. Do this at least daily if not a couple of times a day. good luck

My son had a clogged tear duct as well. My pediatrician told me to massage the inside corner of his eye a couple of times a day to clear out the duct. It worked but it took several weeks.

We did warm compresses, massage as well as medication and my son's clogged tear ducts were still toturous.

We ended up having the procedure done. The doctor straps the baby down, puts numbing drops in his eyes and inserts the needle. My son screamed for a couple of minutes and then it was done.

Honestly, cleaning his eyes multiple times a day was way worse. His tear ducts bled a few drops of blood for a day or two and he never had a problem since.

My only regret is that I didn't have it done sooner, my pedi kwpt insisting I wait it out for it to go away on it's own so I got a second opinion.

The specialist told me it was a severe case that would never have gone away on it's own and in cases like that, it is better to do it while they are young and can be held down, otherwise, they need to be put to sleep which isn't as easy and more expensive.

Our daughter (now 9 years old) had that problem when she was born, it wasn't that bad though (with the green stuff) but always tearing and my doctor told us that she had a clogged duct too, but he didn't recommended surgery and just told us to wait. And we agreed, because he is en excellent doctor that we trusted completely all the time. And he was right, I think by 2 years old she got over that, so I'm happy she didn't have any special procedure made!
We used warm camomille tea with a cotton ball to clean her eye all the time (watching not to put the cotton ball back on tea), just put a little bit on some little disposable container and use a different piece of cotton on each eye.

2 of my boys had clogged tear ducts. The first one they made us wait a full year.........different Dr for my next son. He was 6 months old and the Dr. did it right in his office right in front of me. I was a little shocked, but relieved he didn't have to have anesthesia like my first son did. Can't remember his name but his office was off of Southlake Bl., the street just before the town square.
They actually take an instrument that looks like an ice pick and ram it in the duct to clear it out, then antibiotic drops and no more goopy eyes.

OH Try this - Not sure if someone has already told you how to do this, but my son had clogged tear duct's for awhile after he was born. My Dr. told me to take my index finger, slightly push on the corner of his eye (closest to his nose)several times for 30 seconds (massaging it). I did it and it worked. So anytime afterwards I would just gently push and massage the corner of his eye (usually both) and it would work. I know it can be a pain to clean but to also see them with that mess and feeling uncomfortable.
Hope this helps!

As many times per day as you can (no less than 4), heat up a wash cloth with VERY warm water. Place it on the tear duct until it begins to cool. Then massage the duct in a downward motion. Be sure to do both eyes. This may take a bit, but I've been through this twice with my sons and once it works within a day and the other time it took 2 months.

Hi, A.,
please, please, wait on the surgery as long as you can. My little had the same problem until she was 11 mths. I did put breast milk in her eyes but not like I should have. It did clear up, overnight. I did a lot of research on clogged ducts and it has been known to clear up by their first birthday. And it did. I encourage you it is okay, don't fret or worry about it, it is just ugly but that is it. The warm compresses do help clear the eye. But you will be fine!
hope this encourages you.

My son had the same problem when he was born. Sometimes it was clear and sometimes it looked a lot worse. I tried something on a whim and it worked. I dabbed a little bit of breast milk into the corner of his eye each time I fed him. It all cleared up, never to return, after about 2 days.

We placed a warm compress on our little one's eye throughout the day, tends to open the duct up to allow it to drain. Hope this helps!
T.

try you best for your baby to avoid surgery! take the time every day several times a day to massage with a warm compress, and drop some breast milk. these are safe, natural and proven methods. who cares if it looks nasty, this is your baby.

OMG...DITTO! My son will be 5 months on Wednesday and has the same exact thing! We have opted not to do antibiotics because our pedi said it was not infected, just clogged. She said it should clear itself up by the time he is 1, if not then we will consider having it cleared. I find his is worse when he is congested so we do everything we can to keep his nose clear...using the Nose Frida!

Good luck :)

We used Dr. Stager, Sr. and I believe she wasn't even 6 months old yet. He was awesome and it cleared up immediately. I see someone left his contact information in a previous email. She cried for about 1 minute after the procedure.

Good luck.

My oldest ended up having surgery for this. It wasn't a supper huge deal but if you could avoid it great. Something that they did not tell me to do with him is message his tear duct. 50 strokes every day. I have since done this with my youngest and it cleared it up almost instantly. I would also see and ophthalmologist for it and not your pediatrician as the ophthalmologist is the one that has to do the surgery anyway. Our pediatrician had us wait until he was over a year old and our ophthalmologist said that he wished we had done it much sooner. As the ophthalmologist had been a work colleague prior to having children I trust what he had to say.

We used Dr. Stager Sr.. His son, Dr. Stager Jr., is also in the practice. http://www.popacas.com/index.htm If I remember it correctly, he just probed my son's tear duct. He did this right in his office. No anesthesia. My son was a very young baby, but it was an easy cure, and he hasn't had any problems since. Good Luck.

The doc probably already told you this.... but while he's relaxed and not squirming, keep putting a warm wash cloth on this eye. Keep it on there till it starts to grow cool, then get your hubby to give you another one. If you can keep doing it for an hour, do it.

Then gently, in between changing wash clothes, stroke your finger up the side of his nose down by the nostril up the nose towards the corner of his eye using just a little pressure as you go.

Gook might come out of the eye, then gently wipe it away. Keep doing the warm compress and stroking till nothing comes out.

It might not work for you, but clogged tear ducts are not uncommon and this method has worked for many people.

Just remember not to get the wash cloth hot. Warm is what you want. You don't want to burn him.

Hi there, I had the same issue with my oldest who is 5 now. People told me then to massage the area with my clean finger and see if it will open. But it did not, so we waited until he was 9 months! to do the procedure, just because we did not know better.
It works out great, it took local anesthesia and a big needle and 5 minutes later he was out! so if it does not open by itself when he is 6 months, I will suggest to follow the doctor recommendations.

Two of my four had this problem and with the first one we had it taken care of when he was about 6 months old. For the other one, we were about to have it taken care of but, it cleared up on its own. Knowing what I know now, I wish I would have waited on the first one and it would have probably cleared up by itself as well. In the meantime, I'm sure your Dr showed you how to massage the tear duct to keep it cleaned out. Just keep that up for another month or so and see if it gets handled w/out intervention.

Hello. My first son had the same thing. There really isn't anything you can do for it yourself. Unless it resolves itself which normally doesn't happen it has to be surgically corrected. I know it's a scary prospect but it's realtively quick and they bounce back easily. The only thing that disturbed me was walking into the recovery room and he was just waking up and crying a little and his tears were red tinged with a little blood. The nurse had prepared me before going in but it still took me aback a little. Not saying this to scare you, just a heads up so it won't catch you off guard. Best of luck!!!

I see you have alot of advice but one thing I did that no one seems too talk about is, breastmilk. My son had a clogged duct around 1 month and we did the warm cloth massage but also dripped breastmilk in the corner. It sounds gross but it worked! The milk is full of antibodies that clear up any infection. I also, had a nephew who had the probe done and he was fine soon after.

My daughter had a lacrimal duct cyst from the time of birth. They were actually able to see it in her sonogram. When she was 4 months old her pediatrician referred her to a pediatric opthomologist who performed a tear duct probe on her. It did require IV sedation and the proceduce went perfect. They probed that cyst in her tear duct and she hasn't had any problems. Ask your pediatrician about the possibility of a lacrimal duct cyst and see if he/she can refer you to a specialist. I hope this helps, good luck!

My son had that once, then my daughter once...they told me to express some milk (as an eye drop...I know it sounds weird) and carefully massage the tear duct area whenever I nurse them. It cleared up in a few days.

A.,

My daughter had a clogged duct and it created a sty looking thing that lasted for months. What I did was take a qtip with some baby shampoo and rubbed it on the tear ducts. Her sty thing went away in a
matter of days.

Hope this helps.

Take care and God bless!

My oldest son also had this problem we tried it ALL drops, ointments, rubbing the area, warm compresses it would work for a day or so but would come right back. So when my son turned 6 months old we did the out patient procedure which took a couple of minutes and my son only cried for a short time after the procedure results where almost instant.

V.

I had two daughters that had this problem. I was told to "massage" the tear duct area. Not sure if that really worked, but for you, it's worth trying vs. surgery. Use your clean middle finger pad, place it in the corner of your child's eye area closest to the nose. You can feel a little bump there, and you may be able to tell a difference in each eye. Rub by pushing up, towards the forehead. The warm compresses also could help if the clog is minor and this might help it break down. For my first daughter, what ended up helping was she got on antibiotics for something else and it cleared up then. But my 2nd daughter was not so lucky. She went to Dr. Stager Jr, who I recommend also. He probed her tear duct twice in the office, unsuccessfully.(that was not a fun experience, worse than the surgery) She had to have the surgery to place a stint in her duct. The stint holds the duct open so it can drain. She had it for about 9 months. Then in his office he took it out. It was hard to see our little daughter (about 18 months old) have surgery, but it was worth it. No problems now at all.

I would like to echo what Tracie O said. My daughter had a clogged tear duct while in NICU and when she was about 2 or 3 months old. I did the warm-cloth-on-the-eye and kept gently massaging it every time I changed her diaper (it became habit, this is why I did it both at the same time). It cleared up in about a week each time and she hasn't had it since.

Good luck to you!

My son, who is now almost 14, had clogged tear ducts from the time he was born. We were constantly wiping his yucky eyes, I felt so bad for him and as a first time mother it was hard to deal with this. They told us we should wait until he was a little older to do the surgery as sometimes this goes away on it's own. It did not, so we had the surgery done when he was either 8 or 9 months old, as it was actually getting worse. The surgery takes like 30 minutes (very quick) and it worked! No more yucky eyes and while it was nerve racking having him put under anesthesia, it was worth it in the end! Good luck!

We went through all the already stated solutions with our youngest. We were getting ready to schedule his surgery, when I mentioned his brothers allergies were really bad that week. The doctor grabbed some allergy nose spray, and it cleared up his eye. He has not had a problem as long as we stay on top of his allergies - he is now 11. Best of luck to you and your son.

My son had the same issue. It finally cleared up on its own around 6 months old. Give it some time before thinking of surgery.

My daughter had the same thing. Her pediatrician told us to wet a soft cloth with warm water to wipe away all the "gunk" around the eye and then rub your finger down the side of the nose (from the eye area down toward the cheek) about 10 times. We did this 2-3 times a day and it cleared up right away and hasn't been back. I hope this helps!

I had the same problem with my now 15 month old. All we did was massage around the tear duct several times a day and before we knew it, he was all clear.

My Son did outgrow this, but it took until he was almost 3 1/2 and when he gets sick, the first place it effects is his eyes. We put prescription eye drops in his eyes every time they got yucky and it cleared right up. Another thing that actually worked well is if you are breastfeeding him, put a little breast milk in his eye...a Dr. Sears recommendation... and it worked almost as well as the eye drops. Finally... go see an opthamologist...had we done that, we could have had the surgery when he was little and it was really no big deal, but by the time we took him at over a year old the Dr. said it was really too late for the surgery without it being incrediable traumatic...younger in this case is better. We see Dr. Wang in Plano and love her.

Good luck,
A.