Blocked tear duct and bleparitis
Posted , 3 users are following.
About 6 months ago I went to my doctor as I had red itchy eyes. He looked at me and said I had blepharitis and told me to see an optician though did prescribe chloramphenicol cream. I went to a branch of a well known chemist chain, where the optician looked at my eyes and said I had a blocked tear duct in one of them apparently this could cause blepharitis. She advised me to use a heated pad on my eyes and clean them with baby shampoo for two weeks. After that time I nothing had changed so i rang them and was then told to see my doctor, which i was reluctant to do as he had been quite dismissive before. I stuck it out for a few weeks then went to another optician who said the blockage could be removed quite easily. He made me an appointment with an NHS opthalmologist who only said I had blepharitis . I had to make a second appointment so that he could test for a blocked tear duct. He inserted dye into my eye and when it didn't come out, he confirmed what I had already told him, that I had a blocked tear duct. Ahhgh! The only option he said could fix it was an operation to bypass the tear duct via my nose, an operation he described as "very nasty" and with only a 70% success rate. He was really grumpy and didn't give me much confidence in him. I never got round to asking about syringing the blockage. He did recommend hyloforte tears for blepharitis but this just runs out of my eye and people think I'm crying. I use vitapos at night which helps a bit but my eye is very sore where I'm dabbing it to remove the moisture so that I can see. Can one offer advice as to what options are out there to clear a blocked tear duct and given the NHS eye doctor was so unhelpful, as there any private options I could follow. I was thinking of going to a private opthalmologist but don't know if will be an expensive waste of money. Thanks
0 likes, 2 replies
loxie Guest
Posted
Sounds like you've been given the run around - sorry to hear that. Normally for a blocked tear duct, if you have a bacterial infection, your doctor will prescribe antibiotic eye drops or pills to treat the infection. For a narrowed punctum, your doctor can use a small probe to widen it. They'll then flush or irrigate the tear duct with a saline solution. This is an outpatient procedure not a major surgery. Sometimes you can clear it yourself by pinching the nose under the bridge and putting a warm wet cloth over your eyes for about 10 minutes, repeat every 4 to 6 hours if necessary. The two main causes of blepharitis are either scalp dandruff or a staphylococcal infection - so antibiotics may be needed, and again warm wet cloth over the eyes may help. Dont give up on getting the appropriate treatment via your health provider - why should you pay to go privately just because they are being incompetent.
Guest loxie
Posted
Hi, thanks for your reply. I'll certainly try your idea to clear the blockage myself. I will go back to my dr, but he was so dismissive it put me off. I will try and be more assertive. I've not had anything wrong with my eyes before, and it is turning out to be a more difficult thing than I thought trying to get some help. Thanks for your support