blocked tear ducts - non surgical cure?

[ElliesMomma]

i'd say his is mildly blocked/or is it "twisted"? he occasionally has a tear running down his cheek on the one side. his eye(s) have gooped up when he's sick.

his sister also had blocked tear ducts that cleared up on their own. i did not write down what month this happened.

baby boy will be one in early september.

what are the non surgical "cures" for this -- i haven't really tried the "massage" of the inner eye corner. is it worth it to try this vigilantly?

obviously would like to avoid a surgery!!

my SIL said camomile tea on a cotton ball -- anyone try this?

TIA for any help.

[Knitting Mama]

I am not sure the details on how much, etc. but breast milk is supposed to help unclog clogged tear ducts!

[marinak1977]

DS had a blocked tear duct at birth that cleared up around 4 months. I did massage his tear gland and squirted it with breast milk to keep infections away. I think massage helps putting pressure on the duct in the correct directions.

[MusicianDad]

In my experience the massages work. But my experience is only with myself, so it's not extensive. I've personally had three blocked ducts and they have all cleared up within 2 or 3 days with being diligent with the massages.

[KatieBonita]

The massages are first line treatment

Breastmilk os great for infections but this isn't an infection.

[SubliminalDarkness]

Breastmilk and any other topical solution won't do anything because the blockage isn't at the surface.
Massages, warm compresses while rubbing outward is about all you can do other than wait. Both my boys had them and they cleared up right around a year old.

[Bokonon]

Originally Posted by SubliminalDarkness

Breastmilk and any other topical solution won't do anything because the blockage isn't at the surface.
Massages, warm compresses while rubbing outward is about all you can do other than wait. Both my boys had them and they cleared up right around a year old.

I massaged DS's all the time, and it hadn't cleared by 17 months, so we opted for the surgery. It turned out he had a membrane across his tear duct, so all the massage in the world wouldn't have fixed it. But that's very uncommon.

[terra-pip]

I massaged my oldests when he was a babe with a warm cloth. Cleared up in a few days. Breastmilk works best if theres an infection. Which happened with my second. Just ask your doctor if you're unsure or it keeps up.

[Norasmomma]

I did do the compress/massage with DS, but his honestly just cleared up itself one day. I think at about 3 months, his started getting clogged at about a month. He always has had tears, he cried real tears at birth, IDK if that had anything to do with his blockage, but it was a strange thing to have a newborn cry tears.

[askew]

My DD had blocked tear ducts in both eyes, one cleared up on its own at around 3 months the other she is having surgically opened next week. Our ped and PO told us that after a year it is highly unlikely it will open on its own. We did the massage thing with both eyes. I guess sometimes there can be a layer of tissue that grows over the duct and "surgery" really is the best option. It only takes 10 minutes and our doc will even do it without sedation if you press him. However it is a little painful and hard to get the little ones to sit perfectly still that he thinks it is less traumatic if they are sedated.

[Scarlet_Redhead]

My son (just turned 1) has the same issue. Usually just a tear but then it gets gunky but then it is fine but then it tears but... ugh! It's not fun. He ped is not concerned yet. She can see that infact he does have a tear duct so that is good news. I too want to avoid surgery. I have tried the chamomile tea, massage and breastmilk not sure how much any of it really helped. I just use a wet cotton ball to clean the gunkys out. Wish I could figure out how to fix it too.