About

A blocked tear duct or dacryostenosis is a partial or complete obstruction in the tear drainage system i.e. the pathway that carries tears from the surface of the eye into the nose.(1^✔)

This is a common condition affecting newborns. In infants, there may be a partial or complete blockage of the tear duct system, which can be seen by continual overflow of tears from the eye. Gradually this condition changes on its own before the child is 1 year old.

Adults can get a blocked tear duct due to infection, inflammation, eye injury or a tumor. It occurs more often in older people with eye infections. Treatment with antibiotics is needed in this case.

A blocked tear duct is almost always correctable, but the treatment depends on the cause and age of the patient. Treatment options vary from massage of the lacrimal duct area to minimally invasive procedures like saline water irrigation or probing. Surgery is performed in cases where conservative treatment fails.

References:

What Is a Blocked Tear Duct? - (https://www.aao.org/eye-health/diseases/what-is-blocked-tear-duct)
Eyes - Blocked Tear Duct - (https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/eyes-blocked-tear-duct)
About Blocked Tear Ducts - (https://www.uofmhealth.org/health-library/hw3084)
Blocked Tear Duct - Overview - (https://www.nchmd.org/education/mayo-health-library/details/CON-20156926)
Tear Duct Infection (Dacryocystitis) - (https://www.health.harvard.edu/a_to_z/tear-duct-infection-dacryocystitis-a-to-z)

Published on Sep 24, 2014
Last Updated on Feb 07, 2020

Latest Publications and Research on Blocked Tear Duct

Acute dacryocystitis in pediatric patients and frequency of nasolacrimal duct patency. - Published by PubMed
Prevalence and Treatment Outcome of Nasolacrimal Duct Obstruction in Saudi Children with Down Syndrome. - Published by PubMed
Outcome of Primary Probing for Simple Membraneous Congenital Nasolacrimal Duct Obstruction in Children Older Than 4 Years. - Published by PubMed
Incision of Hasner's valve under endoscopic intranasal surgery for the treatment of nasolacrimal duct obstruction in children. - Published by PubMed
Balloon catheter dilation as the primary treatment of congenital nasolacrimal duct obstruction. - Published by PubMed

JasonG1985 Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Getting DCR surgury on the 11th at the Shiley Eye Center in San Diego for my closed tear duct.

ctnana Monday, October 10, 2011

did this work for you? i have draining from both my eyes like i am crying and they think there is a blockage somewhere in the tear ducts , have an appt thursday ....just wanted to know if this helped

billr Tuesday, August 21, 2012

surgery does more bad than good avoid

Ajay_bhopal Saturday, March 6, 2010

My new baby got Blocked Tear Duct(Dacryostenosis), the 6 days old baby has to be treated surgically at Holy Family Hospital, Delhi, India on 4th March 2010 by expert doctors.

kush25 Saturday, February 28, 2009

I think my tear duct on the left side is blocked a little because my nose get swollen really bad but the tears in my eye go down fine does anyone know if that sounds like a blocked tear duct?

guest Thursday, March 18, 2010

You may experiment taking
glasses of water with tolerable quantity of
lemon juice. caution:Too much lemon juice may lead to
diarrhea; watch your tolerance limits.
pl. reply if your experiment yields beneficial resulta eiyher immediately or after a few days'

AnneMcIntyre Saturday, January 10, 2009

Dear Pat, I have now also got a blocked tear duct and have been told by my doctor that what you had is able to be done easily with no pain. Did you have a sinus infection before it happened that caused it? only one eye is affected and yes I have a sinus infection.

Pat Weinmann Monday, December 29, 2008

My eye doctor stretched the opening-inserted what felt like a needle & irrigated the duct w/salt water. It did hurt briefly, but it did open the duct up. Eye drops 3X daily followed...so far so good.