Blocked tear duct and osteopathy
Does your baby have a runny eye all the time? A little crust in the corner of the eye? It is possible that your baby has a blocked tear duct... Explanations in this article :
What is the tear duct?
The lacrimal duct, also known as the "lacrimonasal duct", is the duct through which the tears are drained. It extends from the lacrimal sac, located in the inner corner of the eye, to the nasal cavity and is 15 mm long and 3 mm in diameter.
Physiology of tears
Tears are formed by the lacrimal glands located in the superior-external corner of the eye. They are collected by the upper and lower lacrimal canaliculi and flow into the lacrimal duct. When the tear duct is too full, the tears overflow and run down the cheeks. This is what happens when you cry a lot or when a duct is blocked.
Symptoms of blocked tear duct
Sometimes, one or two ducts may be blocked or misplaced in a toddler. This can happen at birth or after a few weeks.
- Tears flow down the cheeks instead of into the tear duct.
- The small tears do not evacuate and the eye often tends to be stuck and/or to have crusts especially in the internal corner. This favors eye infections such as conjunctivitis.
Treatment of blocked tear ducts
Tips for the tear duct
- Eye baths several times a day are recommended
- Massage several times a day the inner corner of the eye delicately with the little finger and move down the nose.
- Avoid antibiotics, except in case of infection and under your doctor's advice. Indeed, secretions will resume after the treatment so it is useless, again except in case of infection!
Osteopathy and blocked tear ducts
The role of the osteopath, in the case of an obstructed tear duct, is to restore the mechanics of the cranium and the face. To do this, thanks to very gentle and non-painful specific techniques, he will work on the bones of the skull and especially the face (nose and orbit) and treat all the tensions likely to close the tear ducts.
The osteopath will treat the child in its entirety, that is to say from head to toe in order to rebalance the body as much as possible to allow it to function optimally.
Your practitioner will also give you tips on how to remove the blockage of the tear duct and how to massage the corner of the eye.
However, osteopathy has its limits! If the canal is completely obstructed because of a membrane, osteopathy will not have any effect on this and it will be necessary to consider an intervention.
Operation of the lacrimal canal
If the manual treatment fails, an operation is possible but usually not before the child is 6 months old because the canal is likely to unblock itself or with manual treatment.
The procedure is performed under local or general anesthesia, depending on the condition, using a small probe. The procedure is performed by an ophthalmologist and lasts only a few minutes. This small operation is very impressive for the parents but not very painful for the child.
Marie Messager
Osteopath specialized in pediatrics
In Versailles
78000 - Yvelines
