question about a crusty eye?

Question

i have a 4 month old son and about a week after we brought him home from the hospital his right eye started to get gooey and crusty and has been doing it ever since and i asked the doctor about it at his 2 month check up and he said it was a clogged tear duct but it is constantly watering so i dont see how thats possible...when he wakes up sometimes it is crusted closed and i have to peel it open then clean it off with a warm wash rag...i even tried pouring cooled boiled water over it at night and nothing seems to help and the doctor doesnt seem to know the heck is goin on...we have doctors appt. on tuesday and if he doesnt give better advice or eye drops im totally going to switch doctors...help or advice is greatly appreciated!! thanks!

Answer 1

It is a clogged tear duct and he will out grow it by about 6 - 8 months or so. You might want to ask your doctor if he needs some eye drop antibiotics because it could be a bit infected. My son had the same thing and he out grew it. He did need the eye drops for about 10 days or so and then it slowly stopped crusting over and draining. You might also ask about allergies because when my son's allergies acted up so did his eye.
Don't worry though, he will out grow it!

Answer 2

Our daughter has a blocked/clogged tear duct.

Here's what we've been doing since she was born:

1. Don't peel the crust off! Think about how it would feel if someone peeled that stuff off of your eye. Personally, I think it would hurt a bit. What you want to do is take a clean, warm washclothe. Dab gently at the crust with the clothe... hold the clothe on the eye while it's still warm. This should soften the crust enough so that you can simply wipe it off.

2. At least three of four times a day, massage the area. Gently push from just above the nostril toward the eye duct. After several repititions, there might be a bit of a mess that you'll need to wipe off. This is a good thing! The mess is the blockage working itself out. At times, it feels like you're popping a pimple and the mess looks like the same mess you would have after popping a pimple. When our daughter was younger I would do this at every feeding. It's an easy thing to do when you have the baby so close and preoccupied anyway. Now that she's older (8 months), I do it whenever she has a bottle and one or two times more. She doesn't like it much, but it doesn't hurt her. She just doesn't like to be still for too long.

3. Anytime you touch the baby's eyes, wash your hands first! The eye can get irritated from hands that aren't quite clean... and, of course, better safe than sorry.

4. When the baby gets sick, his eye might run more than usual. We can tell when our daughter is having sinus trouble because her eye runs yellow. (I know that's a bit gross, but it's the truth.) When that happens, you might want to increase the number of times a day that you do the massage.

5. You will probably notice a bit of a bruise under the baby's eye. This is not because of the massage or because of anything you are doing. This is because the congestion in the eye is stressing the skin. It's ok, it's normal (with this condition) and it will go away soon enough. It may be a reccuring event, though, so just be aware.

6. There really isn't any medication that will ease this condition. Medication may help with the sinus problems when the draining of the eye gets very bad, but, generally, medications are not the answer for blocked/clogged tear ducts.
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Finally, about your son's doctor...

I would change doctor's immediately! If you're using a regular family doctor, find a pediatrician. If you are using a ped, find a different one. Remember, doctors work for us! We are allowed to interview them as we would any other person we are going to trust with our children. Go and seek out a new doctor for your son. Ask them first and foremost, if they know about this condition and how they would treat it. Also, get some recommendations from people that you know. (This is how we found our pediatrician... then we interviewed her and chose her on the spot.)

This is not a rare condition! This is a condition regularly seen in babies in the first year of life. If your son's doctor didn't recognize this condition easily, I wouldn't trust him with any of the big stuff.

According to our pediatrician this is a condition that usually clears up within the first year of life. My neice had the same thing and hers cleared up by the time she was a year old.

Good luck, and feel free to contact me if any of this didn't make sense or if you need anything else!

Answer 3

My younger son had a clogged duct. His pediatrician gave us an exercise to do. Every time you give him a bottle or nurse him, take your pinky finger of the hand you're holding the bottle with and *GENTLY* rub the corner of his eye, to the side of the bridge of his nose, under his bottom eyelid in tiny circles. This helps loosen up the clog. Also, several times a day, wring out a wash cloth with very warm water and wipe his eye off. Even if it's not crusty, you should still do this. The heat/warmth from the cloth helps loosen it too. His pediatrician said clogged ducts are very common and most resolve themselves within a few months once you start treating them (massaging and warm cloth). If they're not gone by the time the chidl is a year old, surgery is an option. I had surgery on a clogged tear duct when I was a newborn (this was in the 1970s--I guess they did things differently back then, lol) and I lived to tell about it, although I DO notice that my eyes water very easily now. (shrug)

Answer 4

My son had the same thing when he was about 2 months old and a couple times after that. I was told it was a clogged tear duct also. Apparently it's common with newborns. Just keep it clean like you have been doing. You could also try massaging the inside corner of his eye with your clean finger a few times a day. That may help to unclog it. I used some sort of salve that was sent home with us from the hospital. (I don't think salve helps though when it's just a clogged duct, but I tried it anyway.) My dr. told us that at 2 months, he was too young to receive eye drops. Not sure if 4 months is still too young or not. I would bring this up with your dr. again. If he realizes you are still concerned maybe he will give you a couple other ideas. Good Luck!

Answer 5

My daughter's eyes both did that until she was about 10 months old. She would have good days where they wouldn't run at all and then the next day one eye would be all gross, and then the other eye. I was told there isn't many treatment options when they are so young because their tear ducts are so tiny. I just kept her eyes clean with warm wash clothes and she hated it. I was told if it didn't clear up on it's own by the time she was a year old they would have to take a wire and clear the ducts manually. Thank goodness they didn't have to do that.

Explain your frustrations to the baby's doctor, perhaps something like saline drops would help, but don't be too upset if there isn't a solution for a child so young.

Answer 6

it is a blocked tear duct and will clear up in 4-6 months or shortly after if it does not the doctor may do a small procedure where the baby is put to sleep and a small wire is insurted into the tear duct to unclog it. the reasons why the eye is constantly running is because usually the tears drain into the nose which is what makes you sniffy when you cry but with a blocked tear duct the tears drain out. doctors used to prescribe drops but now they says it's better if you let it clear up on it's own. my son had it and i asked all the questions

Answer 7

First off, your son has some sort of infection in his eye. Something got in there and now it's producing that goo because it's fighting the infection. The doctor who said it was a clogged tear duct is a moron (no offense to your doctor). I don't know what you could do other than eye drops or some sort of medicine. Anyway, I hope he feels better and I hope things go smoothly :-) God bless.

Answer 8

if you are breastfeeding, breast milk can help. When my daughter had this i would use a dropper to put a few drops in her eye and it cleared up in 2 days.

Dont peel the eye open use a wet wash cloth and blot. You can also massage a warm washcloth on the bottom of the eyes when baby is eating or having cuddle time. We did it then and playing peek-ah-boo to be able to rub her skin w/o her grabbing the wash cloth from me.
Good Luck

Answer 9

If it is a clogged duct your doc should have gave a script I would totally switch doctors now not wait to pay the man one more time I have a friend whose son did the same thing until he was one and than it just stopped and he just gets normal wake up crusties

Answer 10

My son had this exact same problem until he was a year old. There is nothing you can do but massage it going up and down on the inside of the eye. Rubbing against the nose. And keep using warm wash rags to open it. It is nothing more but a big inconvienence and he will outgrow it. Trust me.