Tearing & Lacrimal Procedures
Tearing is a very common symptom among patients and there are many causes. In older patients, tearing may be due to a narrowing or complete obstruction of the nasolacrimal duct, the thin tube that drains the tears into the nose. Symptoms may include continuous tearing, crusting of the eye, debris in the tear film, and possibly infection of the tear sac (redness, tenderness and possibly even puss in the area between the corner of the eye and nose). The procedure performed to correct the problem is a dacryocystorhinostomy (DCR), which can be performed through a very small incision in the skin. Downtime after such a procedure is short, there is minimal associated discomfort, the scar is minimal to invisible, and the success rate is high.
Other causes of tearing may include puncta (the small holes in the eyelids through which the tears enter) that have become too small or scarred, puncta that are no longer in a good position because of poor eyelid tone, and turning in or out of the eyelids with poor pumping of tears and ocular irritation. Every patient is unique and requires careful and thorough evaluation and customized treatment plan. Many of the procedures to treat tearing can be done in the office under local anesthesia. Fellowship-trained oculoplastic surgeon, Katherine J. Zamecki-Vedder, MD, FACS, is very experienced in the evaluation and treatment of lacrimal disorders.
Get Started
Treatment of tearing problems is often covered by insurance. Call 203-791-2020 to schedule your tearing evaluation with Katherine J. Zamecki-Vedder, MD, FACS.