I am wondering if anyone has experienced this with their child. I have a 15 month old boy who seems to have constant eye discharge. When he was younger it seemed like it was only his left eye and happened when he had a cold or was sick. Now it seems like it is all the time and it is in both eyes. In the morning, his eyes are "gooped" shut and as the day goes his eyes produce large eye "boggers" that don't clear away easily. We have not been to an allergist, just the pediatrician who said it was a clogged tear duct and that they hope to have those cleared up by the time the child is one. He did mention that there is a surgery to open the tear duct but I am not interested in that at this time. Has anyone experienced this with their little one? What helped? I think my next step is an allergist but I am just curious about other peoples experiences.
We went to the pediatrician this morning and they swabbed his eye to check for a bacterial infection. We have also been refered to a pediatric opthamologist to check his tear ducts. Thanks for all of your replys!
I have 4 children. Two of which had this problem. To help open up the tear duct we had to use a warm moist cloth which also helped loosen all the goop in their eyes. We did go to an allergist and that got rid of it after a while.
Good Luck,
J.
My daughter did this too. From birth until about a year and half. Her's was only in one eye. I found that breast milk (drops in the eye) worked best and when she got adjusted by her chiropractor, she would go a few days in between the 'clogging'. If it is a clogged tear duct, he will outgrow it, it just takes a long time. If its allergies, try the chiropractor. They do wonders for the little ones:)
Good luck!
I too have experienced the same thing with my daughter her whole life. She is about to turn two years old. I've been told that her tear ducts get blocked, due to a cold or allergies. We have seen several doctors on different occasions who have given the same advice. All we can do is use a warm wash cloth with a little Johnson/Johnson baby shampoo and keep clearing the goop away. It tends to be the worst when she's just had a cold. But by now I'm sure she has allergies too. I think some children are just more prone to this sort of thing (my husband had the same problem as a child). My doctor agrees she's too young for the probe surgery so we just live with it. I had to provide a doctors note to her day care so they didn't think she had pink-eye or a virus. Now that my daughter is old enough we are going to see about allergy meds to relieve her constant congestion. I would suggest an allergist but not the surgery. My hope is that she will grow out of it in the next year. Good luck.
My nephew suffered through this same thing for many months until finally my sister agreed to the tear duct surgery. She says now she wish she would have done it sooner because it wasn't a big deal and all has been well for the past 18 months. She said he was only gone from her arms about 15 minutes and had no post-"surgery" complications. So, if it comes to having the tear duct opened rest assured the anticipation is way worse than the event.
J.
Clogged tear ducts won't be helped by an allergist. Two of my children had this issue. You can do tear duct massage and that may help them open up. If they really don't open up, you may have to see a surgeon. You can also ask the pediatrician about eye drops or eye ointment. We used both for my son and they helped, but my daughter's cleared up with warm washcloths and tear duct massage.
T.,
My son had the same problem intermittently for the first 2 years of his life. It always seemed to get worse when he'd been crying. Perhaps the crying inflamed the tear ducts and then there was no place for the extra fluids to drain. My pediatrician didn't seem too concerned even when we passed the one year mark. I would clean the "goop" off with a warm washcloth and try to massage the tear duct with the tip of my pinkie finger (a nurse recommended this to me). He didn't really like the massage so I didn't do that very regularly. He did outgrow the problem, but I honestly don't remember how old he was. I think some children just have narrower tear ducts.
One of his buddies had the same problem, although more severe, and they opted for the surgery.
My oldest daughter had to have her tear duct opened w/ surgery. She was older than a lot of kids b/c like you I DID NOT want her to have to have surgery. When she got into preschool it became such a problem w/ her wiping it clean that her eye was always red and raw (skin around). The surgery was fine, I recommend anchoring the tube so it doesnt get pulled out, ours did and we had to do it again later that week. I can recommend a great MD if you need one (Greenville area) He is not a peds but he does a lot of work on kids. The peds specialist here had the personality of a gnat so we went another way. Good luck.
This happened to one of my sons too. He was getting his eye infected by rubbing his nose with his fist then rubbing his eyes. It was hard getting him to keep his hands out of his eyes at a young age, but it then cleared up.
My daughter, who is now 4 years old, had similar symptoms. I was told that she had a tear duct problem and would need surgery. My husband and I did not go for the surgery right away, but when she turned 2 years old, we went ahead with the surgery because her eyes constantly ran tears. I was fearful to let the doctor operate on her at such a small age, but the surgery was a success.
My now 3 year old son used to get that a lot when we first moved to Georgia from Florida, he was about 15 months old then. Well his doctor here said it was most likely a clogged tear duct or allergies from the change of climate. Well I have found on my own that it is the weather here, he is constantly snotty and itchy and has to take either benadryl or zyrtec. The goopy eyes pretty much stopped but if he is around a cat it is a guarantee that he will wake up in the middle of the night with his eyes pretty much shut with goo. So do you have any cats or animals? That may be the cause. And if benadryl or an antihistime clears it up then it is most likely something he is allergic too.
My baby went through about a week of this even though he was not sick.It ended up just clearing up on it's on for me.
My friends daughter had this when she was born, nothing helped so she prayed. God instantly healed her and now 11 years later she still has had no problems.
T.,
Both of my daughters when they were born had clogged tear ducts that eventually did straighten out. I know when my youngest (20 mo old) has a cold, she will usually get pink eye which is just a cold in the eye. It gets just like you described. For both my daughters, I cleaned the eye really good...I used a moist cotton ball and only went over the eye once with it. I started at the inner part of the eye by the nose and wiped out. The ped also recommended to massage the inner part of the eye where the tear duct is to try to open it up. It did work for both my girls. The pediatrician might have more suggestions on what to do to help it open.
Hi T.,
My second child had a blocked tear duct as well, basically from the time he was born. The pediatrician sent us to a pediatric opthamologist and they said if it doesn't open by the time he turned one, then it probably wouldn't open on its own. We did have the surgery when he was about 13 months old and it really was no big deal- it was quick and painless for him and we were home by lunch. The hardest part was not eating or drinking beforehand, but they typically schedule the youngest kids first to make that easier on them. Good luck!
My son had a similar experience, his eyes weren't gooped up though. My suggestion would be to see an pediatric opthomoligst before you see an allergist. We saw Dr. Zach Pollard. Good Luck.
Did U check for infections ? Did U check for sinus ? Did U check for allergic reaction to fragrances, foods, clothing, etc.........
Extraordinary,
" Mr. B "
my lil girl had a slight problem with her eyes sticking shut when she woke up - her doctor gave us a cream to rub on it before she went to bed and at naps. i believe it was the same stuff or similar to that in the hospital they use when babies are born. ERYTHROMYCIN OPHTHALMIC OINTMENT is what the tube says - also i think ,y doctor gave it to me for stys in my eyes when i was little. if u havent tried this ointment ask ur son's doctor about it.
T.,
Welcome to the club, "Mothers Against Surgery their Children Need".
IN the 50's and 60's every child needed to have their tonsils taken our. In the 80's and 90's all God's Children wound up with TUBES! and now in 2000's the fashoinable surgery is the TEAR DUCT surgery.
As medicine gets better and better, our children will continue to have pediatric surgery that will address the current issues facing Moms of the day.
I can hear you unwilllingness to have the surgery in the letter but you should be thankful that there is now a answer to your child's issue. Eye infections are serious and should not be ignored. First, give yourself the permission to do everything that you can find out about to help your child to make this problem vanish. If after you have exhausted all avenues, then you will feel comfident that you tried everything to help your child. Realize though if he gets to school without the neded surgery and continues to have "buggers' in his eyes, that he may become a target for the bullies of his class.
It is a well documented fact that children with chronic sinus issues do worse in school and also become the picked on student with name calling. These children also have a harder time in school because they DONT FEEL GOOD WITH THEIR SINUS HEWDACHES, STUFFED UP NOSES, AND DRIPPING NOSES. Kids can be crule.
Hearing that your child needs surgery is frighting and very expensive as well. But your child will continue to have infections and drainage if it is not fixed. Good luck in your search and decision.
Keep Mothering,
Ms C.
My experience with this has been eye infections - pink eye. If the goop is green or similar color, you may want to test for pink eye and make sure it is not an eye infection that needs antibiotic treatment. I would suspect this since it develops during or after a cold and it has spread to both eyes.
I do not recommend the surgery until he is much older. Both of my Daughters had the clogged tear duck since birth, and my pediatrician told me to massage it. By massaging it, you help get some of the "goop" out and it helps unclog it. My oldest daughter is 5 and her sister will be 2 in July, they do not have any problems with their eyes now.
