Can a blocked tear duct clear by itself???

[leeshawcrawford]

I was diagnosed with a blocked tear duct a couple of weeks ago and am just waiting on a date to undergo surgery. The surgeon passed a cannula into my tear duct and tried to pass saline through it. This was unsuccessful. The day after this - I was rubbing my eye when I felt a slight "pop". Since then I have had no tearing or swelling of the lacrimal sac - my symptoms are gone!! Is this possible???

[Michael J Kutryb, MD]

I suppose it is possible that it opened up.  Just ask your doctor to re-examine you with another probing that would be the only way to truly answer the question.  By the way, if all your symptoms are gone, it may be a moot point.

[JodieJ]

I truly hope that your symptoms are  gone forever.  I'm a non-professional, but your description doesn't make anatomical sense to me.  Swelling of the lacrimal sac suggests blockage in the lower (nasal) end of the tear duct, rather than in the upper end in your eyelids.  Perhaps anything is possible.  I know that there are minimally invasive procedures such as dilation with a balloon catheter which can unblock tear ducts in some cases.