Tearing

Tearing is a common complaint and can be due to many different causes. Your eyecare provider will perform an evaluation to determine the cause of your tearing. One cause of tearing may be a blockage of the tear duct that drains tears from your eye down into your nose. When the tear duct is open, you may notice that your nose runs when you have increased tear production. With a blockage of the tear duct, the tears are unable to drain adequately into the nose and they may overflow from the eyelids onto the face as if you were crying. In some cases, an infection of the tear duct may occur if the tears are unable to drain adequately. This condition often requires antibiotic treatment and may also require surgery to open the blocked tear duct.  

 

Tearing can occur in both adults and children. Children may present with frequent tearing from one or both eyes and may also have mattering or discharge in the eyes. Often the tearing will resolve in children before age one year. If the tearing does not resolve, the tear duct can be evaluated and often opened by passing a probe through the tear duct under anesthesia. A high success rate is achieved from this procedure with resolution of tearing.