blocked tear duct

[aisraeltax]

anyone else dealing with this problem? Ethan has gooy yellow stuff coming out of his left eye. The Sears book recommends massaging but i cant figure out how to do this. if anyone cant explain this to me, i woudl really appreciate it. all the other stupid books i have just say "seek medical advice". i dont mind going to the ped. for this but the Sears book seems to suggest that i can help him out by massage, it will remedy itself, or it can certainly wait for our appt. on the 30th.
tia,
rach

[Panthira]

My 2 yr old had this when he was a baby (a side affect from the eye goop).
We massaged them until they both opened up.
You basically place a clean finger on the side of the bridge of the baby's nose and roll your fingertip/upper finger up toward the eyeduct several times, several times per day. I found it helped to take a clean cloth with warm water and carefully wiped his eyes before doing this procedure.
The doctor was threatening to poke open his eyeducts with a needle if we weren't able to solve the problem on our own.

[seren]

Totally butting in here, I saw the post on the new posts search.

Both of my dd's had clogged tears ducts. Dd1 almost had surgery for hers at 18 months. Dd2's started getting just as bad as dd1's was. So my midwife suggested I take a cotton ball dipped in warm water and wipe from the inside corner to the outside corner on both eyes. Rub a bit like pp said and then put breastmilk in her eye. I did it once and it cleared up overnight. I know others who have had to do it a few times, but it has always worked.

[Emmy142]

Yep Teagan has a blocked duct. Our pediatrician said to rub our finger from the corner of Teagans eye down to the bottom of her nose 5 times 3x per day. It can be really kind f gross when you massage as gunk can come out. If you are nursing, put some breast milk onto a clean finger and put gently into the corner of her eye (thank you Michelle!). I actually do this several times and actually sweep it across her lid, as it really helps loosen up the gunk that gets stuck in her lashes. I also find using warm wet compresses after she wakes up and her eye is really gunky helps a lot too.

We've been dealing with this for almost 2 weeks now and it is getting better. Today I did not have to use a warm wet compress to clean her eyes off at all. Funny everyone told me that how easy they are to get infected, the pediatrician even gave me a prescription for antibiotics because he said it would happen, and it has not happened at all. I think it is all the good breastmilk :) Of course she will probably get infected tomorrow now that I've said that....

[xmasbaby7]

Yes, dd had this in both eyes. not a biproduct of eyedrops in thehospital, though, as previously mentioned, just lack of complete development before birth.

between the massage and the breastmilk, her eyes cleared up really easily.

do it for a week and see if its better.


wouldn't worry.

[aisraeltax]

thanks mamas...i know i can always count on you! i thought bm woudl be beneficial but waited until i got confirmation.

[mariposita]

yep, weve got plugged ducts here too. been doing massage/breastmilk and it seems to be helping a lot. in case that doesn't work after doing it for a wile, midwife also said you can get the herb Eyebright and make an infusion - 1oz. pure herb to about 1/2 pint of boiling water. let it cool and use an eyedropper to put some in the eye. keep the rest in the fridge and i'll last weeks if needed. it's a step up from the breastmilk (try bm first for quite a while first) but definitely try the eyebright before other more medical solutions. mw also said some babies take up to a year to open up their tear ducts completely.

[judybean]

Madeline's right eye tear duct was terribly clogged for the first year of her life despite everything we tried to do to get it to open up. She did have it poked open via surgical methods at around 18 months I believe. It was always very red and irritated looking. To this day, she still seems to have some issues with it watering very easily (*especially* in the cold and/or wind -- it drips like crazy).

Katherine had no issues. Now, Lucy has some issues with her right eye. We're really working to do everything we can to get it to open up. Of course, I'm not *too* concerned yet because she's not even a month old yet, so there's still plenty of time for it to open up on its own. And, it's not nearly as bad looking as Madeline's was. Lucy's eye just gets a bit goopy -- especially in the mornings.

[MistyB]

Alec had it had Ella does too. Ella's is worse and has still not resolved. BM does nothing. It may help keep an infection at bay IF they eye is irritated BUT a clogged duct is a physical blockage. The tear duct is clogged with foreign matter (tissue that can't pass) OR the tear duct itself is too small physiologically to function normally. BM will not unblock it if it is a true clogged duct.

The warm compress on they eye may help soften the "stuck" matter. The massage may help loosen the matter but once again...BM can not physically unblock the obstruction.

Can you tell that I have been told that many times much to the dismay of been there, done that...it does not work!?

Almost all ped ophthalmologists will tell you just to deal with it until the child is a year or older. The blocks will clear themselves 90% of the time spontaneously by the first birthday even if nothing is done. As the baby grows, the duct grows. The passage will expand as the child grows. For those children in which the issue has not resolved at 1 year...you can continue to wait it out as the child keeps growing OR get the puncture procedure done. Some ophthalmologists are pretty adept at squeezing/pressing very firmly to get a block out. Parents usually don't push firmly enough.

And many kiddos that get the puncture procedure actually have to have it done 2 or more times as the duct is not shaped right and it continues to revert to clogging, blocking or not remaining open. In that case, they insert little tubes.

HTH!

[IncaMama]

just to clarify - the bm isn't to unclog it, you're right that bm itself can't remove a blockage...it's to reduce irritation and keep infection at bay. :) it's more effective than just warm water.