Tear duct obstructions are very common in babies just after they are born. The tear duct normally drains the tears from the eyes into the nose. If the tear duct does not form correctly, then the tear duct is blocked. The tears cannot drain out of the eye when the tear duct is blocked. When the tear duct is blocked, the tears overflow from the eye onto the baby’s face.

Occasionally the tear duct can become infected due to the obstruction and antibiotic eye drops may be needed. Many tear duct obstructions go away by themselves or by using tear duct massage.

Tear duct obstructions can be treated with antibiotic eye drops, ointment, or massage over the tear sac. Sometimes tear duct surgery is needed to open the tear drainage pathway into the nose.

Click on the link below for more information on tear duct obstruction.
http://www.aapos.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=74

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