Seth has blocked tear ducts in both of his eyes since he was born. One has cleared up but the other is still quite bad.

It doesnt really affect him much, he sometimes wakes up with a stuck together eye but we manage to sort that out quite quickly and it doesn't really bother him. He has had conjunctivitus twice (once at 7 weeks old, one about 10 months). It sometimes goes a little red on his eyelids but never seems to bother him. He doesn't rub them and he doesn't appear to be very sore with it.

its been recommended to us in passing a few times about a procedure as after 1 year its very unlikely that the tear duct will unblock itself. I dont know much about it, only what Ive googled.

So if anyone has been through this with their child before I have a few Qs

1) will it cause any problems if he doesn't have it done
2) is there any point putting him through this and sedation/general anesthetic for what is probably only a cosmetic problem
3) what happens during the procedure
4) how long does it take for recovery, and will he be sore after.

Another big thing about this is that I have a complete phobia of eyes and the thought of someone doing this procedure to him makes me feel sick to my stomach, sweaty, shaky etc. So I dont know if Im just playing his condition down because I dont want him to have it. Obviously if its necessary Ill have to put that aside.

Any advice would be much appreciated

xxx

I had an operation for a blocked tear duct a few years back. It was pretty quick and it was painless really.

They do an anaesthetic injection around the eye beforehand to numb everything. I'd say that was the worst bit and that wasn't that bad.

Then they get a very, very fine needle thing and put it down the duct (that hole thing in the inside corner of your eye) and give a squirt of saline down it to clear the blockage. That sounds awful but because your numb and you can't see because it's so close it's no hassle and it's really quick.

Doc said to me "can you taste the saline in the back of your throat?" Apparently if it works you can. I couldn't so it didn't work for me.

That's basically it. It didn't hurt, was a bit uncomfortable that night but nothing major. I had a teeny little thin red bruise where the needle had gone for a couple of days but that soon faded.

TBH I'd say get it done. For me it's the hassle of the blockage that was worth trying it for. When it's cold or windy my eye waters like mad and sometimes in winter with all that watering the skin around my eye can be sore and dry. Not to mention it messes up your make up (though hopefully Seth won't have that problem! )

My son who is now 6 suffered terribly from blocked tear ducts for the first few years of his life. At about 1 one eye seemed to improve, then we waited and waited and finally went up to Birmingham Childrens Hospital to get it fixed - i was a bit unsure it was worth it to be honest. When we got there, they checked him again and the Dr said that he was sure if we perservered and left the other one it would ultimately unblock so we made the decision and came home and within months it fixed it itself. We were told that about 99% will clear by the time they are 5 and if he is not too bothered by it I would wait and see XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX