What can I do to relieve a plugged tear duct?

[marinak1977]

My 3 week old DS has green goop coming out of his eye. I've been trying to massage it like it says in the Dr. Sears book, but it's still goopy. I'm wondering how long it takes for the duct to clear usually and when I should worry (it's been goopy for about 3 days), and if there is anything else I can do to help it. I just feel bad seeing my LO's eye all sticky.

[honeybunmom]

I would keep up the massaging. And if you have any concerns that it is actually an infection of some sort, I would express some breastmilk into the eye. Either directly, or into a cup or something and then use an eyedropper to put it in.

[birthangeldoula]

It took probably 6 weeks of massaging before Kate's tear duct finally stayed clear.

[Peony]

It does take a while. DS had both of his tear ducts blocked, one cleared up at 4 months, the other at 5. That was with daily massaging.

[akind1]

I am not sure whether DS actually had a blocked duct or some sort of conjunctivits, but I dropped a couple drops of breastmilk 2-3 times a day into his eye, and probably not exactly on purpose was massaging the tear duct as often as i was wiping away goop, and it cleared up in about a week to 10 days.

HTH

[marinak1977]

Thanks everyone! I'll try using the breastmilk while massaging the tear duct. It doesn't bother DS, just looks bad...

[Xavismom]

We are dealing with the same thing DS has had this on his left eye since birth.

We just had our 2 month appt today, and I talked to his nurse about it. She said its totally normal, and it could go away soon, or it could last up to 8 months or so. She said just keep up with the massaging, and if it ever looks infected rather than just goopy to let her know.

Hope that makes you feel a bit better. I know its not fun to see your LO's eye all goopy, I get so sad sometimes hoping it doesnt bother him.

[thedenverduo]

My ds is 5 months old and his clogged ducts have just cleared up in the last week or so. While not the prettiest thing to look at, all the gunk didn't seem to bother him much. I just tried to keep them clean, and gave him a squirt of breastmilk and some massage each time we nursed. My ped has said that if it didn't clear up by a year they would do a scope and see if anything unusual would happen. Their very relaxed stance on the whole thing helped me relax.

On the other hand, they also told me that consistently greenish goo was a sign of infection. Ds generally only had yellowish goo.

Hope it clears up soon!