What to do if a child has a blocked tear duct

Many people may not understand what the tear duct is. The tear duct includes the lacrimal puncta, lacrimal canaliculi, lacrimal sac and nasolacrimal duct. There is a tear point on the upper and lower eyelids, and the upper tear point is slightly inner than the lower tear point. The lacrimal canaliculus is a small tube connecting the lacrimal punctum and the lacrimal sac, and is divided into the upper lacrimal canaliculus and the lower lacrimal canaliculus. Some children may experience tear duct obstruction, which prevents secretions from the tear glands from being eliminated, thus endangering the health of the eyes.

As for how to flush the tear duct, the first thing to do is to choose the insertion point of the needle, generally inserting the needle into the lacrimal point in the inner part. The patient sits or lies down, facing the operator. Operation technique and error prevention: Insert the needle vertically into the lacrimal punctum to a depth of about 1.5~2.0mm, and then turn it 90 degrees. Point the needle tip toward the nose, that is, the long end of the needle is parallel to the nose. The needle tip is then advanced slowly along the lacrimal canaliculus. If there is no resistance, it can be advanced 5 to 6 mm. Push the liquid into the tube with even and appropriate force. If there is great resistance during flushing, backflow or outflow from another lacrimal duct, it indicates that the tear duct is blocked. The direction of fluid backflow is different in different parts of the tear duct. Pay attention to the depth when inserting the needle to avoid damaging the mucosa.

The clinical significance of tear duct irrigation is that it can detect some diseases related to the tear duct, such as tear duct obstruction caused by trauma; purulent secretions in the irrigation of chronic dacryocystitis; other acute inflammations of the eye; bleeding tendency or nasal deformity; acute dacryocystitis.

Some newborns or children may have blocked tear ducts, and if the tear ducts are blocked for a long time, more eye mucus will accumulate around the eyes. At this time, you cannot just apply medicine on the eyes. Instead, you should first use a cotton swab dipped in warm water to slowly wipe away the eye mucus, then massage the eye area, and then have a professional doctor diagnose the specific location of the tear duct blockage and then clean the tear duct.