How to cure tearing eye in toddler?

Updated on May 11, 2008
T.N. asks from Baltic, CT
8 answers

My 20mos. old daughter's right eye has been tearing for over a month now. I brought her to the ped. yesterday to get it checked and he is sending her to an opthamologist. He said it could be just a blocked tear duct, but it is not common at her age (usually found in young infants). He wants to rule out glaucoma. I guess what I'm looking for is anyone that has gone through this before and any info on it would be great. There are no signs of infection (whites of eyes are not pink), and the tears are clear in color. He checked for allergies but not the case (the conjunctiva is not inflamed or red).

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Summary

It could be a blocked tear duct. Take your child to an ophthalmologist and have them check her eyes.

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S.K.

answers from Boston on

Hi I am a teacher of the visually impaired and a mother of two small children. My advice is not to panic. Go to the ophthalmologist, it is most likely a blocked tear duct. I have seen it many times on children older than 1. If it is glaucoma, it is great that it is being caught now so that the disease can be treated. Good luck!

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W.D.

answers from Boston on

my son's eyes have been doing that since birth.. some kids have allergies that make that happen, some have blocked tear ducts.. Make sure you go to a pediatric opthamologist - if you are in Mass , Dr Jeff Sorkin is THE best..

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K.D.

answers from Hartford on

My friend's son had a blocked tear duct with the same symptoms. They tried medication and massaging of the duct area near the inside corner of the eye. They finally inserted a tiny tube in the duct to keep it open and he has not had problems since.... and he's 13 now!
Don't assume the worst...more often than not it's a simple answer. Best of luck!

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V.J.

answers from Boston on

i know this sounds scary but i have the same problem and after scanning my eyes a billion times with those scary orange drops in my eyes my opthamologist asked me if i ever had cold sores. it dawned on me that i had stopped having them a while ago.
apparently herpes simplex, the virus which causes common cold sores on the lips or in the mouth can pick three "paths" either to your mouth, most commonly...your nose...or your eyes. although what i have are technically cold sores in my eyes you can't see them without those microscopes they use and the only symptom is the tearing.
of course it's nice not to get those hideous sores on my lips anymore but corneal herpes as it's called can leave scarring on the cornea which could potentially affect your vision after a long time. there are eye drops the doctor can prescribe when you're "having an outbreak" to prevent scarring and although i thought it was really bad my doctor has let me start wearing contacts again after using the drops a few times.
corneal herpes sounds like some awful disease but of course herpes simplex is very easy to get since a lot of people carry it without having sores and share things which they touch (kind of hard to avoid that!)

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J.A.

answers from Providence on

I am not an expert but my daughter had this to when she was younger and not a small baby. I think she was around 8 months or so. It was a cloged tear duct and even though some would not agree with our methods we used green tea dipped in a cotton swab and gently massage the area.
You have to be careful how much you use and how you do it but if you research it online you will see that it is ok to use it.

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J.E.

answers from Boston on

I had blocked tear ducks as a child and it was completely "fixable" :). I am fine now at almost 25 other than for the usual eye problems of having glasses and dry eyes but they could never say that it was a result of me having dry tear ducks as a child. I am sure everything will work out just fine. :)

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S.K.

answers from New London on

My daughter had this same issue when she was a baby. It recurred when she was a toddler. My pediatrician didn't say anything about it being rare in toddlers- maybe because it had happened before? It wasn't a big deal. We didn't do anything special for it- just used hot compresses a few times a day to help it drain and clean it out. It didn't seem to bother her- except that she had to sit still while we held the washcloths on it!
Since she has never had this before, it's probably good to check it out, but I can't imagine what else it would be. So don't worry! (yeah, like we moms can stop worrying)
Good luck,
S.

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B.T.

answers from Boston on

hi tamy my eye has been doing that also . since i moved from boston to the country . i am not used to all the flowers and trees around here . so my doctor said it was a alergy. i think mayby that is what she has . good luck
B.

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