Clogged Tear Duct

A general misconception about clogged tear duct is that there is not enough production of tears in the eyes. However, this is not the truth. When the tear duct of your eye gets clogged, the tear drainage system gets impaired. It results in excessive tearing, which is often accompanied with swelling of the eyes. The discharge of water increases on watching television, working on the computer, exposure to sun, wind, cold, etc.

The blocked tear duct is susceptible to infection. Therefore, you may experience recurrent eye infection and inflammation, blurred vision and discharge of eye mucus. Apart from these symptoms, you may also feel pain and swelling at the corner of your eye if you suffer from clogged tear ducts. You may notice discharge of bloody tears if the condition has taken a serious form.

Causes of Clogged Tear Duct

There is a thin membrane that seals the nasolacrimal duct in fetus. It is supposed to open up spontaneously at birth. The failure results in clogged tear ducts in infants. This particular congenital disorder is the major cause of blocked tear ducts in infants. In older kids and adults, the disease condition that is commonly responsible for clogging up of the tear duct is chronic infection of the nose. It is also called chronic sinusitis. It irritates the tissues and form scars in the eyes. This leads to blocking up of the tear duct system, and hence, blocked tear ducts. This same condition can occur as a result of physical injury of the nose.

You might have heard of nose polyps. They are another reason behind a blocked tear duct. Nose polyps are described as outgrowths from a membranous lining in the nose. They appear like a ball placed on the end of a slim stalk. The nose polyps can obstruct the tear duct system, and thus, is a probable cause of clogged tear ducts. People with allergies like hay fever are comparatively more prone to nose polyps. Another possible cause of blocked tear duct is conjunctivitis. It is defined as the infection of the thin membrane covering the eye called conjunctiva.

Blocked Tear Duct Treatment

There are a number of diagnostic tests that can determine clogging up of the tear duct. It starts with the physical examination. The doctor conducting the diagnostic tests generally studies your family and medical history. He may ask you to taste a special fluid that has been flushed into the clogged tear duct. If the tear duct of your eye under examination is normal or open, you will be able to taste the fluid in your throat. If you fail to do so, you are most probably suffering from a clocked tear duct. The doctor may conduct an x-ray or CT scan to confirm the condition of clogged tear duct.

The treatment for blocked tear duct focuses on the cure of its underlying factor. However, the doctors usually prefer to wait for the clogged tear ducts to open up on their own. This is done particularly in case of infants. It takes 9 months or so for the baby's tear duct to unclog spontaneously. Sometimes, when the tear duct does not unclog after an expected time period, the doctor may consider operating on the membrane that seals the tear duct.

In case of adults, he may recommend gentle eye massage, with special instructions. In some serious cases, surgery may be considered as an option to unclog the tear ducts. The purpose of the surgical treatments is either to make a drainage hole from the tear duct into the nose or to drain the clogging materials from the tear duct. The doctor may prescribe antibiotics to prevent bacterial infection, pain killers to bring down pain, and hot compress to ease the discomfort.

Clogged tear duct treatment may take 15 days or so to get completely cured but it is worth the result. An on-time treatment is necessary as clogged tear ducts are prone to infections, which in turn can cause severe damage to your eyes.