worried about my daughters eyes

[worried all the time]

My 7 month old daughter has had problems with bacteria and organisms growing on her eyes. she has been on all sorts of eye drops.  The doctors are now telling me it is from her tear ducts being closed.  Do you really think this is the problem, i'm scared if they dont figure the problem out it will ruin her eyesight.

[Quixotic1]

I am a retired pediatician.  This is a VERY common problem and will not lead to any loss of vision.  Many babies at birth do not have open tear ducts.  These ducts are the one which drain extra tears into the nose. (You know the moment you start to cry you begin sniffing? You're sniffing tears.)  The majority of these babies will have their tear ducts pop open on their own as the baby's head grows.  The few that don't will need a pediatric ophthamologist to tease it open.  This is a minor procedure.  The optimal timing for doing this is about 7 months, so it would make sense to have your daughter referred to a specialist to see if this should be done.  If one waits too long the closure can become more permanent and more difficult to treat.  Do NOT fret!! This is an annoying, but not serious problem.  QUIX

[momofmeg]

I'm not an expert in this area at all, but have heard of this happening to people I know and in one case their baby had to have surgery to open the tear ducts up, because that was the cause of the problem.  I'd check into seeing a ped opth dr.

Good luck!