About Tear Ducts

The tear duct is the small, soft bump found in the corner of each eye, located right next to the bridge of the nose. The purpose of the tear duct is to act as a kind of tiny drain for the eye. The tear ducts excrete excess fluid from the eye, sending the extra lubrication into the nasal cavity. Most people only notice their tear ducts when they are watching a particularly sad, "tearjerker" movie, and their tear ducts can't keep up with the tears flooding the eyes.

Function

The tear duct is used for draining tears. Contrary to popular belief, the tear duct doesn't emit the tears, a tear gland at the top of the eye emits the tears. The lacrimal ducts are the pieces of the tear duct you can see when you look in a mirror. These ducts take the excess tears when you are crying and route some of them into the nasolacrimal duct in the nasal cavity.

Features

The nasolacrimal duct is the fancy name for the tear duct. Both the nasolacrimal duct and the lacrimal sac are lined with glands that produce liquid. The nasolacrimal duct runs in a long, hollow space along the nasal cavity. When a person is crying, the nasolacrimal, lacrimal ducts and lacrimal sac work together to pump out the tears, channeling them into the nose, causing a runny nose. Blinking of the eye helps speed up the action of the tear ducts.

Prevention/Solution

Some infants are born with a condition of the tear duct called congenital nasolacrimal duct obstruction (CLDO). It means the tear duct has not opened by the time the baby is born. Only about 6% of babies have this condition. The way CLDO is diagnosed is when a baby has watery eyes, sometimes leaking down their faces when they are at rest and not crying. The condition usually resolves itself, or sometimes gentle massage of the tear duct will open the duct. A child will be referred to an opthamologist for treatment at 12 months of age, if the condition has not resolved itself naturally.

Significance

Without tear ducts, the eye would leak constantly. When a foreign object is in the eye, the tear gland produces extra liquid, and the ducts help to flush the eyes of that liquid.

Warning

If a nasolacrimal duct gets blocked, the eye will water continuously. People who have a dry eye condition need to close off their tear ducts, and receive punctal plugs that only allow a small amount of liquid to leave the eye.

Identification

Tear ducts are easily identifiable by sight, located in the inside corner of each eye. The tear ducts are 12 to 15 millimeters in size. They appear off-white to pink in color, and are spongey to the touch. Since the duct connects directly to the nasal cavity, sometimes eye drops squeezed into the eye can be tasted in the nose.

Considerations

Sometimes rheum gathers in the corners of the eyes, over the tear duct area during sleep. Rheum is a mixture of mucous, dust, dirt and dead skin cells that is normally blinked away during the day. At night, the rheum can build up and will appear in the corners of the eye. People sometimes refer to rheum as eye crust, sand, or say that the "sandman" has come and sprinkled it in their eyes overnight.