Clogged Tear Ducts

A blocked or clogged tear duct is when the eye’s drainage system for tears is either partially or completely obstructed and tears cannot drain normally, causing a watery, irritated or chronically infected eye.

Most tears come from the lacrimal glands, which are located above each eye. The tears flow down the surface of the eye to lubricate and protect it, and then drain into tiny holes (puncta) in the corners of the upper and lower eyelids. The tears then travel through the small canals in the lids (canaliculi) to a sac where the lids are attached to the side of the nose (lacrimal sac), then down a duct (the nasolacrimal duct) before emptying into the nose, where they evaporate or are reabsorbed.

A baby can be born with a blocked or clogged tear duct (a congenital blocked tear duct), but the condition usually resolves on its own within four to six months.

If the condition does not improve on its own, sometimes more than one treatment or procedure is needed before a clogged tear duct is fully opened. If an infection is suspected, your child’s provider will likely prescribe antibiotics.

In some cases, your child’s ophthalmologist may recommend using a special massage technique to help open the membrane covering the lower opening into your baby’s nose.

For infants and toddlers whose blocked tear ducts aren’t opening on their own, a technique using dilation, probing and irrigation may be used. Surgery is effective in babies and toddlers with congenital blocked tear ducts, though it is usually an option only after other treatments have been tried.