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Has anyone experienced plugged tear ducts with their childern?
DS has had them since birth. Dr. said to massage around the eye with a warm cloth and it should take care of itself. If not they will open them after a year. Minor surgery. Just a needle to freeze area then open them up.
DS is now 7 months and I'm tired of them! We are constantly getting little infections; the corners of his eyes will get gooey. Now that we are eating real food, he'll sometimes rub eyes while eating and get food in his eyes. This will cause the eyes to get 'yucky'. Everytime he gets a cold, yucky eyes.
The constant tears 'leaking' out the outside corner of his eye causes his skin to rash a bit. It sort of looks like eczema. If we keep on top of this with cream that sort of forms a barrier from the tears, its not so bad. But that is 3-5 times a day with the cream. If we forget once or twice, the rash is back.
And his eyes always look watery, so strangers/friends/relatives are constantly saying he 'oh, someone's been crying' or 'such a sad baby'. This one is starting to bug me even more since my boy rarely does cry.
Our next well baby appt is at 1 year (5 more months) and it doesn't look like my Dr. will do anything until a year anyway. Should I get another oppinion or just deal with it? Has anyone else had this experience? What did you do?
Thanks in advance for any help.
Michelle
I would get another opinion. Cameron had them and our ped said if they are going to clear on their own, it will happen by 6 months. She said they would go in then if they did not. (Luckily for us, they cleared just fine.) I think a problem lasting 7 months sould be further investigated! (And wow, on not going back until 1 year. We go again at 9 months for some kind of blood work. Checking levels of something...)
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We had them too...it was terrible! Sometimes his little eyes would be crusted shut and it wold take everything to open them. They cleared up on their own when he was 8 months old. We too were told they would clear by a year. Also, when our cat ended up running away...don't know if it was just that it both happened close together or what...but his eyes were less goopy. We think he may have had allergies as well.
Had 'em here too! I totally hated that DD had one!! Our ped also told us that it should clear up by the one year mark. Don't remember exactly when DD's cleared up, but it was probably around the 5 month mark. Her's also cleared up and then came back again a while later. DD's ped also prescribed Erythomycin ointment to put on her eye.
I would say if you're not happy with your doc's care, definately seek another opinion! I also find it odd that you're DS is not being seen again till 1 year, but not sure if 9 months is a common thing (DD didn't need to have any shots then, so it was more a lets see how you're doing check-up). If you worried, I'd definately get on them or seek out another pediatrician.
If you're interested, I found this site after we were told DD had a plugged duct that gives a little more info about it (as well as diagrams), which I found helpful: [URL="http://www.goodhope.org.uk/departments/eyedept/waterychildren.htm"]Watery Eyes in Children[/URL] .
It is reasuring to know that others have had them for quite long as well. They no longer crust (only did for the first few weeks) and I guess they are mostly just an inconvience and sometimes yucky. Giving it some thought, they are alot better. We also were given the ointment to use when they get gooey. Mostly I really hate everyone thinking my baby is sad and crying all the time.
I really like my Doc. He is a family doc not a ped but is very good. I guess I just question this cause it really seems like a long time to not do any thing.
Mrs: Thanks for the link. I will read it tonight.
Marci: I live in Alberta, Canada and I think (i may be wrong) it is normal here for 6 month check then 1 year next if there a no real concerns. And I can always book an appt anytime I have a concern. Our shots are done by public health nurses not in the Docs office and the health nurses will weigh and measure your babe anytime you want to drop in and answer any questions.
Has anyone heard of any child that it didn't clear up on its own and had to have the surgery?
Thanks ladies,
Michelle
OnTheJourney
Has anyone heard of any child that it didn't clear up on its own and had to have the surgery?
I've only heard about from second hand sources (such as a friend telling me a neighbor had a child with a plugged duct that had to have the surgery, etc.), but I've never known anyone firsthand. Everyone (including myself!) that I know from firsthand accounts always had the plugged duct clear up by itself.
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I stumbled upon this old thread of mine and thought I'd post an update.
DS still has one plugged tear duct!
We had a referal to a pediatric eye surgeon and just had the appointment this week. We are now scheduled for day surgery under general anestetic for May 5th to probe the membrane and open the duct. I'm a little scared of the anestetic (he will only be out for 5 or 10 mins) but I am happy to finally be moving forward with this.
Way back in the 60's I had a plugged tear duct that the doctor opened when I was about 6 months old. Never had a problem since and if Mom hadn't told me about it, I would have never known!
I was in clogged tear duct misery w/ dd. Hers didn't clear up on their own They did the probing, and sure enough it didn't work. They were clogged again. (can't remember how long before they were clogged)
Then she had to have a tube put in the duct. It was a tiny clear tube, that you could barely see, unless you were right there looking. That stayed for 6 months, I think. They were able to remove it easily at the dr's office. It worked.
This was about 6 years ago, seven when we started. If you want to know anything else feel free to ask.
Good Luck! Everything will go fine.
Teekay74
I was in clogged tear duct misery w/ dd. Hers didn't clear up on their own They did the probing, and sure enough it didn't work. They were clogged again. (can't remember how long before they were clogged)
Then she had to have a tube put in the duct. It was a tiny clear tube, that you could barely see, unless you were right there looking. That stayed for 6 months, I think. They were able to remove it easily at the dr's office. It worked.
This was about 6 years ago, seven when we started. If you want to know anything else feel free to ask.
Good Luck! Everything will go fine.
How old was DD when she had the probing done?
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