My daughter is 10 months old. When she was a couple of weeks old we were told that she had a blocked tear duct and that it would probably go away on its own. Well, the tear duct is still blocked and the specialist we were referred to recommends surgery. Apparently the surgery is out-patient and quick but beyond that I don't know much. I wondered if anyone else had been through this and what I should expect.
Thanks so much for all of your responses. We have been doing the drops and the massages for the last ten months and for whatever reason that did not work. We went ahead and scheduled the surgery for July 5. It's at Children's Mercy. Now that I know what to expect hopefully I won't be as nervous. I'll let you know how it turns out!
Hi,
My second (of three) had this. We massaged it and he out grew it. I would get a second opinion before going forward.
Yes, my son had that as well, and at 6 months, we did the surgery for it. Apparently, it's VERY common, and no big deal. The surgery took only about 10 minutes - and he was back in my arms. They told me to keep him calm that day, but once back home, he was raring to go - crawling all over. It was a piece of cake! Don't be scared - I know as a mom that it is easy to be worried about SURGERY - but this one is very simple! If you'd like to question me further - feel free to contact me through my website - my contact info is on the bottom of the home page! :) www.healthyhome4family.com
My dd, now 10 had a blocked tear duct. In her case we had problems since birth. She had an eye infection before we left the hospital. It was an ongoing battle with infection --- and doing the daily massage etc....
At 11 mos. old she had the surgery to fix the problem. In our case the problem was actually that cartledge from her nasal passage was pressing against the tube that drains the duct. The surgeon said we could tell our dd that she had a 'nose job' before she was one.
Our dd had her surgery at The Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. I assume things would be similar here. Surgery was scheduled for early in the am (and as usual it was delayed) I can't remember what the requirements were about eating and clear liquids. I do remember that dd was on breastmilk and that is a clear liquid (though some docs may not know this) I woke my dd up at the last hour she could have breastmilk and gave her a feeding. (Normally she didn't nurse at night at all.) I am glad I did that b/c her surgery was scheduled for 7 and delayed until almost 9.
The staff at the hospital commented about how 'good' and 'happy' she was. Generally I guess the kiddos in that situation are crabby and hungry. (I know I would be too.)
My dh went with them when the took dd into the OR and when they put her under he left.
I know it seemed like the surgery took FOREVER. I didn't have a watch so I don't know how long it was.
They do have the kiddos stay until they are awake enough to eat. I was able to hold dd as soon as she came out of the OR. They told me she would be really groggy and probably wouldn't nurse, but she latched right on.
She was able to go home at that point. She still had an IV in though so we had to wait for that---again it took forever. (I am recalling that it was close to noon and I think there may have been a staff 'switch' b/c I think we were 'lost' in the shuffle for a bit)
She has had no problems since. I don't remember a follow-up with the surgeon, but I am guessing we probably did have one. Or maybe our ped just checked on it.
Did the dr. not give any eye drops for this? I have a 2 month old and he had the same issue. However, we just gave him eye drops three times a day for a few weeks and then he was fine. I've never heard of anyone having surgery for this.
Hi-
My daughter had the surgery at Easter. Unfortunately, her surgery was unsuccessful becuase they found a structural abnormality, but the procedure itself was very simple. We did it at St. Luke's and she was done before I really had time to sit down in the waiting room. She also recovered quickly and was home and happy within a couple of hours. The worst part was waiting around before the surgery because she couldn't eat after midnight. Her eye was not irritated and there was no pain afterwards.
Good luck!
My oldest had the surgery done at 9 months (i think- it's been a while). They thought they were going to have to insert a tube, but they just went in & opened the tear duct. It was really easy and FAST! My daughter was in & out in less than 15 minutes. She cried for a little bit & feel asleep afterwards. She woke up a couple hours later like nothing ever happened. I'm really glad we got it done... her eye looked awful!
My son, Max, had this surgery at 11 months. It was so easy we took his older brother to swimming lessons right after leaving the hospital. Ours was done at Childrens Mercy South. They barely get them to sleep and the whole thing is over with. Sometimes you can massage the duct and it will clear. For my son, once they got in the duct they found he actally had a flap of tissue blocking the duct so no amount of massaging would have helped. I know its hard to put your baby in surgery, I was so scared, but it was all so easy. The hardest part it that they can't eat all morning until after surgery. If you have anymore questions, I'd be happy to help in any way I can :)
L.
i have a 2 month old daughter and she had the same thing right after she was born, i took her to our prediatrician and he said massage it for 2 mins 3 times a day towards the nose, he also gave me a prescription and it went away within a week. i think u should go for another opinion.
My son had a blocked tear duct from birth and when he was 2 they wanted to do surgery, we got a second oppinion and were told surgery would fix it but eventually it will go away on his own. He also told us if the only problem the blocked tear duct has caused so far is puffy redness after sleep and random tearing, he would recomend we wait it out. The tear duct is not where tears come from it drains fluid from the eye. His tear ducts have been fine for a while now. Have you taken her to an eye doctor or an optamaologist as well as her doctor? Did the eye doctor suggest the surgery?
My son had this surgery done at 12 months with great immediate success. He is 13 now and has never had another issue, he even has had pink eye and no complications then either. I would get the surgery done it is simple and a quick fix to a difficult problem.
Hi S.,
Do you massage the tear duct? That's what I did with my daughter and the problem corrected itself. I would get a second opinion before putting your 10 mo. old through surgery. Good luck to you.
My Daughter had the same thing. Sometimes they do "grow" out of it because their head and face grow with age. For us we chose the surgery route, she was 13 months. It was fast surgery lasted about 30 mins. she was a little groggy after being put under. t was great though. the tubes they put in are barely noticeable and we had one that fell out on it's own. If your's was like mine she always has a green crust around her eyes. Trust me get the surgery. I don't have to milk any goo out from her corner of her eye anymore and they are just a pretty as ever. Where are you getting it done at?
S.-
Is the eye becoming infected or just goopy? As a mom, I find it difficult to imagine putting a 10 month old under anesthesia, and that alone would make me want to wait a little longer. I've heard that massage can help, as well as putting a little breastmilk on the area when you massage (sounds weird, but it worked for me and my daughter, along with craniosacral therapy). BTW, craniosacral therapy can address any misalignments in the skull bones that may be causing the blocked duct. IMO, craniosacral is much less invasive, less expensive, and there are no drugs.
I had a patient who had chronic eye infections from a blocked tear duct. Pretty much came back every other week or so until the baby was 10 months old. Mom used the drops, which helped, and then began discussing surgery with her pediatrician. One month she got very busy and didn't fill the antibiotic prescription right away. The infection went away on its own and hasn't been back, and surgery was avoided.
Hope this helps.
Yours in health-
Dr. Alyssa
My son had the same problem. We massaged for a year and it did nothing. The Dr. recommended surgery so we went to Amarillo to a wonderful eye clinic there, Dr. Crnic's office (we live closer to Amarillo than OKC). They got us in first thing so we didn't have to wait as long. He also had the growth which is why the massaging did no good. The surgery lasted, no kidding, less than 6 minutes. They came and got me as soon as they brought him out of his sleep. He had a really hard time coming off of that, so be prepared that that might happen. I didn't hear other kids doing this (a bunch of surgeries were going on at the same time), but he screamed like I had never heard him scream before. I had a hotel room a block away and they let me just go there to calm him down. Then, if we had any problems we could come right back. It took him about an hour to calm down and it bled some, but then he fell asleep. When he woke again, he was completely fine. I think he just had a bad reaction to the anesthesia. One word of warning: Talk to the doctor to find out what happens if there is a growth covering. I didn't know until I saw the bill that they purposely fractured a bone to open it up and that freaked me out because I felt like I should have given him more Tylenol. I understand why they did it, they had to, but I just wish they would have told me that. It scared me to death for my son to have to go through this, but like everyone has said, it is extremely routine and for us, it was instant success. I could not believe it. Very much worth it. Good luck!
I know you've already got it scheduled but you may want to make sure you have to do it now. My daughter had a blocked tear duct & got conjunctivitis from it often. We were told by her eye specialist that she did not need surgery unless it did not clear up before age 2. Apparently at age 2, the structure of the nose becomes a little harder & is not as pliable so the procedure is not as easy nor has a better success rate. In my daughter's case, we scheduled the surgery for when she was 20 months and then really began to pray over the situation. I really wanted to avoid anesthetizing her if at all possible because there is always a risk with that. She never had a problem again (cleared up around 17 or 18 months) - Praise the Lord! Obviously this may not happen for your daughter but you may want to ask if you can give it a bit more time. May God bless your family.
it is outpatient surgery my son had it done when he was 10mnths old when he got out of surgery his eyes were a lil dilated he cried for me then once i got him he acted like nothing was wrong later that day he was up and around playing like normal so i think your lil girl will be fine so don't worry even though your going to cause its normal for a mother so good luck i hope this helps some
