Clogged or clogged tear duct
Clogged tear is a fairly common condition in ophthalmology. This happens when the tear duct becomes clogged and prevents normal tear drainage.
This condition is very common in older people and adults, affecting the female gender more frequently.
The clogged tear duct, better known as dacryocystitis, may be caused by a bacterial infection.
Attending this condition on time is essential to avoid a conjunctivitis and other major complications.
Clogged or clogged tear duct
Clogged tear is a fairly common condition in ophthalmology. This happens when the tear duct becomes clogged and prevents normal tear drainage.
This condition is very common in older people and adults, affecting the female gender more frequently.
The clogged tear duct, better known as dacryocystitis, may be caused by a bacterial infection.
Attending this condition on time is essential to avoid a conjunctivitis and other major complications.
What is clogged or clogged tear?
The tear is produced by the tear glands and then drained through the tear sac.
When the duct through which the tears circulate suffers an obstruction, the fluid builds up on the track and a dacryocystitis occurs.
Clogged tear may occur due to a infection which causes inflammation of the tear duct and prevents the tear from passing into the tear sac.
Inflammation can also occur in a lacrimal sac.
The clogged tear usually occurs in only one eye and it is a condition that can affect newborn children, elderly, adults y women between 50 and 60 years old.
Types of clogged tear
There are two types of blocked lacrimal:
Acquired
This type of obstruction in the tear ducts is "acquired" throughout a person's normal life. The acquired obstructed lacrimal It is the most frequent and affects adults or the elderly.
Congenital
The congenitally blocked tear affects the newborn.
The condition can occur because the child has contracted an infection during delivery or has been born with an eye injury that is clogging the tear ducts.
Causes
La most frequent cause of the blocked tear are bacterial infections.
When this happens, the bacteria begin to proliferate inside the tear duct, becomes inflamed and blocks the passage of tears.
It can also be the lacrimal sac is obstructed because of trauma or eye injuries.
Usually, the obstruction is due to the inflammation of the lacrimal sac or the nasolacrimal duct.
In both cases, there is a significant blockage that prevents the tear can move to the nose and, instead, begins to be expelled through the eyelids.
Also exist other causes associated with lacrimal obstruction, such as:
- Neoplasms of the sac or the lacrimal duct.
- Abnormal bone formation.
- Inflammatory diseases such as sarcoidosis and Wegener's disease.
- Complications derived from surgical trauma.
- Conjunctivitis.
- Blefaritis.
- Hypertrophy of the inferior turbinate.
There are also factors that they make a person more prone To suffer from clogged lacrimal, let's know them:
- Our white people who live in the Mediterranean have a higher risk of suffering from this condition. It is less common in Asians and black people.
- La edad It is an important risk factor. The older a person is, the more likely they are to suffer from some obstruction in the lacrimal sac.
- El low socioeconomic status It is also considered a risk factor.
- Our of They are more likely to suffer from this condition. The range is 4 or 5 women with lacrimal obstruction for every man who suffers it.
Symptom
The most characteristic symptom of clogged tear is constant tearing.
In view of the tears that are found trapped in the conduit and can not move to the nose, there is a drainage through the eyelids that is very annoying.
Constant tearing is known as epiphora and it is one of the main causes of bacterial conjunctivitis or eczema on the eyelids.
For this reason, it is important to keep your eyes clean, remove secretions and squeezes, and avoid applying all kinds of creams, ointments or artificial tears.
Others Obstructed lacrimal symptoms are:
- Inflammation of the tear sac.
- Redness and inflammation of the eyelid.
- Pain on the eyelid.
- Secretion of mucous substance.
- Redness of the conjunctiva.
The symptoms of congenitally blocked lacrimal are:
- Secretion of mucous substance.
- Tearing constant.
- Formation of scabs on the eyelids
- Redness of the eyelid and conjunctiva.
- Pus in the eye.
- Formation of an internal cyst Because of the inflammation.
Treatment for blocked tear
Treatment for clogged tear may include oral administration of Antibiotics, analgesics y anti-inflammatory to treat symptoms in case of infection.
However, the most effective treatment to correct the clogged tear is the surgical intervention.
At present, the most modern and effective procedure to correct the lacrimal obstruction is the dacryocystorhinostomy endonasal or endocanalicular with diode laser. Depending on the evolution of the disease, the most indicated treatment will be to combine dacryocystorhinostomy with a dacryocystectomy, which consists of remove the lacrimal sac.
These interventions are less invasive for the patient than an external dacryocystorhinostomy and allow combat nasolacrimal obstruction effectively.
Endonasal dacryocystorhinostomy is a procedure that, compared to older techniques, offers many advantages and is currently the most used.
These are your and advantages:
- Less recovery time after surgery.
- No injuries are made, cuts or scars on the skin.
- Lower bleeding rate.
- Complication Reduction.
The goal of the surgical intervention is create a new conduit for drain the tears, mucus and bacteria accumulated inside the duct and tear sac.
Another surgical option for the treatment of blocked tear ducts is the pointplasty. The objective of this surgery is to unclog the tear ducts by means of a minimally invasive treatment that, depending on the state of the tear ducts, we perform in the doctor's office or in the operating room.
In babies
El treatment for congenital clogged tear is to clean the baby's eyes three times a day, as directed by the pediatric ophthalmologist.
The objective is to avoid the accumulation of secretions through the eyelids to prevent a greater infection such as bacterial conjunctivitis.
The blocked tear in newborns usually correct itself during the first year of life.
Otherwise, it is important for the pediatric ophthalmologist to evaluate the option of performing a surgery, using a probe to drain the accumulated liquid.
This procedure is quite simple and is carried out with sedation, having administered anesthetic eye drops in the previously affected eye.
