What causes lacrimal duct stenosis?
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As you age, the tiny openings that drain tears (puncta) may get narrower, causing blockage. Infection or inflammation. Chronic infection or inflammation of your eyes, tear drainage system or nose can cause your tear ducts to become blocked. Injury or trauma.
What is lacrimal duct stenosis?
Lacrimal duct stenosis is a narrowing of a tear duct (lacrimal duct). It can happen in children and adults. This fact sheet will focus on lacrimal duct stenosis in infants. Lacrimal Duct. The lacrimal duct (in blue) drains tears from the eye down into the nose.
What does Dacryocystitis mean?
Dacryocystitis is an infection or inflammation of the nasolacrimal sac, usually accompanied by blockage of the nasolacrimal duct. Dacryocystitis can be acute or chronic and congenital or acquired. When present, medial canthal swelling of dacryocystitis is usually located below the medial canthal tendon.
What is punctal stenosis?
Punctal stenosis is clinically defined as a punctum caliber restricting tear drainage in the absence of distal tear drainage abnormalities, namely canalicular obstruction or nasolacrimal duct obstruction.
What do the lacrimal ducts do?
The lacrimal duct system transmits tears from the surface of the eye to the nasal cavity. Tears enter the duct system at the lacrimal punctae and conduct through canaliculi within the eyelids. The canaliculi drain into the lacrimal sac.
What is the pink thing in the corner of your eye?
The lacrimal caruncle, or caruncula lacrimalis, is the small, pink, globular nodule at the inner corner (the medial canthus) of the eye. It consists of tissue types of neighbouring eye structures.
What is the most common cause of acute dacryocystitis?
An acute infectious state typically causes acute dacryocystitis. In the United States, the most common organism is Staphylococcus and Streptococcus species, followed by Haemophilus influenza and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
What is punctal dilation?
Dilation of the lacrimal punctum is a useful treatment when mechanical, inflammatory, or infectious processes cause or contribute to obstruction of normal tear drainage resulting in excessive tearing or persistent ocular infection. Important functions of punctal dilation include. Alleviate symptoms of excessive tearing.
What does punctal occlusion do?
Punctal occlusion is a mechanical treatment that blocks the tear drainage system in order to aid in the preservation of natural tears on the ocular surface.