Blocked Tear Duct HURTS

I now know that the painful swollen area in the corner of my right eye is a blocked tear duct.

It was so terribly painful 10 days ago that I went to my GP doctor. He thought it might be cellulitis. So he put me on a strong antibiotic and an anti-nausea med so I can tolerate the antibiotic. And he told me to go to my eye doctor if it didn’t clear up in a couple of days.

I also already had a scheduled appointment with my new ENT last week. And he, too, said it appeared to be a blocked tear duct and wanted me to see my eye doc.

Eye Doctor

So my eye doctor used a tiny tool to probe the tear duct and then a larger tool to try to widen the tube. He numbed me first, of course. After using three different size probes, he used a syringe without a needle on it to inject fluorescent dye fluid in the bottom tear duct opening. It should have come out my nose, but it came out of the top tear duct under my eyelid instead. So it’s blocked big time!

He added double ophthalmic antibiotic eye drops to my medicines four times a day. I saw him again yesterday, and it’s still blocked, but not as inflamed. He told me to continue with the nasal wash and hot compresses I had already been doing several times a day. He did not refill the Doxycycline antibiotic, but wants me to rest my digestive system for a week. I see him again next Thursday.

So the saga of my sinus/eye problems continue. Thank Goodness I’m not in such pain anymore, but I look forward to the day I don’t have the nasal discharge, and I don’t feel and sound like I’m stopped up with a cold.