Why is the baby always in tears?

  Neonatal lacrimal sacculitis is a more common lacrimal tract disorder in infants and young children, manifested by the baby’s tearing and even yellowish purulent discharge, which is caused by blockage of the nasolacrimal duct. Usually, the exit of the nasolacrimal duct is closed by a membrane in newborns. Most newborns have the membrane rupture automatically while producing tears (usually 3-4 weeks after birth), and the tear duct starts to open. However, a few newborns have thicker closed membranes, or due to congenital narrowing of the nasolacrimal duct or nasal septum malformation, resulting in blockage of the lacrimal duct, tears will be trapped in the tear sac, and once the tears become infected, they become pus.  When this happens, parents should massage the child and order antibiotic eye drops. If the above conservative treatment does not work, tear duct irrigation is feasible to understand the specific site and degree of obstruction, and lacrimal duct exploration is used to make the duct open. The lacrimal duct exploration may cause one-time bleeding, swelling, and pseudo-duct formation, but generally these reactions will subside naturally within a few days to 2 weeks after the procedure.