tear duct probs?

Ollie has been on eye drops and creams for his gunky eyes, basically since birth.

Recently the Dr said that she doesn't think it's an infection after all, most of the time... she said that there may be something wrong with his tear ducts. If he hasn't grown out of the "gunky eyes" by the time he is 1 year old, she is going to recommend that Ollie has a little surgery on his tear ducts.

Has anyone else had this, or know anything about it?

Someone else mentioned that the amber teething necklaces can also help with blocked tear ducts and stuff.... any other "remedies"?

I just try to keep his eyes as clean as I can by cleaning with saline solution, and when they get infected I use the creams/drops etc. from the Dr.

Appreciate anyone else's experiences!

my sister in law had this done with her child. apparently real quick surgery, real simple, wore an eye patch for a few days i think (was an older child) and had no probs since

LIttlebug, Luke had this with both his eyes from birth. I worried about the surgery, but around 6 months they both cleared up! Only problem he has now is that the minute he gets a cold or anything, his eyes tend to look "sick" first...

We were told to massage around the eye, espcially where the tears ducts are (corner of the eye closest to the nose) - DH swears this is what worked...

My DS1 had the same prob and sure enough when he was around 1 the problem solved its self. i just used to wipe the gunk out didn't know there were natural remidies out there (this was 5 yrs ago) and the dr wasn't too helpful.
hopefully Ollie will grow out of it soon.

LittleBug, Naturopharm are a great provider of homeopathics, and they don't cost the earth. They should be available at most good healthfood shops, or online

http://www.healthchemist.co.nz/naturalpharm-classical/naturopharm-euphrasia-30c-tablet-p744069.html

I am an 'eye nurse' and have worked in theatre and clinics, we pretty much always wait until 1 year of age, and if it hasnt cleared by then we take them to theatre - sounds very traumatic but honestly its so quick. They use a special probe to 'flush' the duct with saline - most of the time this is all that is required and the theatres I worked in do not pad just for syringe and probe - as there is not usually a lot of blood involved.

Very rarely if this doesnt help there is more invasive proceedures - but its not usually needed and they would not do that without full informed consent.

You can massage the area, just below the duct towards the nose - this can help clear any blockage.

Hope that helps - I know it can be a real pain, Ive seen kids with chronic blockages whos little cheeks are all red and raw from the continual dribble of water down their cheeks.

edited for spelling!



Edited by Muz

Cooper has this in one of his eyes, massage definitely clears the duct out...yummo LOL but it certainly hasn't helped much.

I was told that it is not looked at until they are 1 & they don't operate until around 2. A lady at school is still waiting with her 20 month old.

Breast milk definitely helps when the area surrounding the eye is red.

Definitely going to check out & try that Euphrasia stuff

Hollie has had awful trouble with her tear duct, but the older it gets the less the severity, so we think it's slowly clearing up on it's own.