Many children are born with an underdeveloped tear-duct system, a problem that tear duct blockage, excess weight can cause tearing and infections.
Blocked tear ducts are common in infants, as many as one third may be born with this disease. Fortunately, more than 90% of all cases from the time children are 1 year old with little or no treatment solve.
The earlier blocked tear ducts are discovered, the less likely it is that infection will result or that surgery will be necessary.
About tear ducts
Our eyes are constantly dust, bacteria, viruses, and other objects that could cause damage to exposed, and the eyelids and eyelashes play an important role in preventing, dass
Besides serving as protective barriers, the lids and lashes also help your eyes stay moist. Without moisture, the corneas would dry out and could cloudy or injured.
Working with the lids and lashes, the protective system of glands and ducts holds (called the lacrimal system) eyes from drying out. Small glands in the eyelid produce an oily film that mixes with the liquid part of tears and keeps them from evaporating.
Lacrimal (or tear-producing) glands of the watery part of tears. These glands are under the browbone behind the upper eyelid, at the edge of the orbit, and in the lid.
Eyelids move tears in his eyes. Tears keep the eyes lubricated and clean and contain antibodies that protect against infection. They drain from the eyes through two openings (puncta or lacrimal glands), one on each of the upper and lower eyelids.
From these puncta, tears tubes called canaliculi or lines at the inner corner of the eyelids want to enter, then into the lacrimal sac, which played alongside the inner corner of the eye (between the eyes and the nose).
Of the lachrymal sacs, tears move through the nasolacrimal duct and connect into the back of the nose. (This is why you usually have a runny nose when you cry -. Their eyes are produced in excess, tears and your nose can not handle the additional flow) If you blink, forces the movement to compress the bags, squeezing tears from them, away from the eyes, and the nasolacrimal duct.
The nasolacrimal duct and the lacrimal glands are also known as tear glands. However, it is the one that is involved in nasolacrimal duct tear-duct blockage.
Causes of blocked tear ducts
Many children are born without a fully developed nasolacrimal duct. This is called congenital nasolacrimal duct or dacryostenosis. Most commonly, a child with a line that is too tight or leave a web of tissue blocking the canal and therefore does not drain properly or is blocked easily born. Most children outgrow it by the first birthday.
Other causes of constipation, especially in older children, are rare. Some children have nasal polyps, cysts or growths of extra tissue in the nose at the end of the lacrimal gland are. A blockage can be caused by a cyst or a tumor in the nose, but this is rare in children.
Trauma to the eyes or an eye injury that rips (cuts through) the tear ducts could also block a duct, but reconstructive surgery at the time of the accident or injury can prevent this.
Signs of Blocked tear ducts
Kids with blocked tear ducts usually develop symptoms between birth and 12 weeks of age, although the problem may not be obvious to an eye infection. The most common signs are excessive tearing, even if a child does not cry (this is called epiphora). You can also notice pus in the corner of my eye, or that your child wakes up with a crust over the eyelid or in the eyelashes.
Kids with blocked tear ducts, an infection in the lacrimal sac called dacryocystitis. Symptoms include redness at the inner corner and a slight swelling or tenderness and bump on the side of the nose.
Some children are born with a swollen lacrimal sac, which dacryocystocele called a blue bump appear next to the inner corner of the eye.
Although this condition should be carefully monitored by your doctor, it's not always lead to infection and can be treated at home with firm massage and observation. If it gets infected, sometimes topical antibiotics are required. However, with some infections, the child must be admitted to the hospital for intravenous antibiotics followed by surgical exploration of the channel.
When to call the doctor
But if your child's eyes tear excessively show no signs of infection, contact your doctor or a pediatric ophthalmologist (eye doctor) for advice. Early treatment of a blocked channel may prevent the need for surgery.
If there is evidence of infection (eg, redness, swelling or pus) or when a mass or lump on the inside corner of the eye can be felt, call your doctor immediately because the infection can spread to other parts of the face and the blockade lead to an abscess if not treated.
Treatment Blocked tear ducts
Kids are often treated with blocked tear ducts at home. Your doctor or pediatric ophthalmologist may recommend that you massage the eye several times a day for a few months. Before massaging the lacrimal gland, wash your hands. Place your index finger on the side of your child's nose and firmly massage down toward the corner of the nose. You might want to also apply warm compresses to the eye to help promote drainage and relieve discomfort.
If your child develops an infection as a result of tear-duct blockage, the doctor will prescribe antibiotic eye drops or ointment to treat the infection. It is important to remember that antibiotics do not get rid of the obstruction. Once the infection has cleared, you can still massaging the lacrimal gland, as the doctor recommends.
Surgical treatments
If your child tear even more after 6 to 8 months, has developed a serious infection or recurrent infections, your doctor may recommend that the lacrimal gland can be surgically opened. This has a 85% to 95% success rate for children 1 year old or younger, the success decreases as children get older. Surgical probing may be repeated, if not initially successful.
The probe should be carried out by an eye doctor - Your doctor may refer a. The probes are surgery on an outpatient basis (unless your child is suffering from a serious infection and has been admitted to hospital) performed under general anesthesia.
The eye doctor will first take a complete eye examination by eye problems or other types of inflammation that may cause similar symptoms. A dye disappearance test can help identify the problem. This involves placing fluorescein dye in the eye and then to see the examination of the tear film (the amount of tear in the eye), if it is larger than it should be. Or waiting for the doctor to see if dye properly by the child blow his nose and then to check if any of the dye drained out through the nose.
A surgical probe takes about 10 minutes. A thin, blunt metal wire gently passed through the tear duct to open blockages. Sterile saline solution is then purged through the channel in the nose to ensure that it is now an open path. There is very little discomfort after the probing.
If surgical probing is unsuccessful, your doctor may recommend further surgical treatment. The traditional form of treatment is called silicone tube intubation in which silicone tubes are placed in tear glands to stretch it. The tubes are left for as long as six months, and then removed in a further short surgery or in the office in response to the stents used in place.
A more recent form of treatment is balloon dilatation catheter (DCP), in which a balloon is inserted through an opening in the corner of the eye and into the canaliculus. The balloon is inflated with a sterile solution to expand the lacrimal gland. It is then deflated and removed.
Both methods are relatively short, but require that a child be placed under anesthesia. Both are successful as a rule, with a 80% to 90% success rate in younger children.
It may take up to a week after surgery before symptoms improve. Your doctor will prescribe antibiotic ointment or drops along with specific instructions on how to care for your child.