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View Full Version : Can breast milk help with a plugged tear duct?


mcmorfit
04-18-2003, 10:02 AM
Very strange question, but little Lucy has a plugged tear duct. We have been massaging and putting warm washclothes on it and know it will go away. However my sweet DH claims he heard that if you squirt milk in the eye it will clear up. He is a sports writer, so I'm wondering if all the guys sit around and talk about the healing benefits of breast milk! LOL.
lisams
04-18-2003, 11:19 AM
Hee-hee, I can just see the guys talking about it!! He's got the right idea! Breast milk can clear up conjuctivitis (pink eye) since it has antibodies that can fight the infection. A plugged tear duct is not an infection, so as far as I know it wouldn't help clear it any faster. Our daughter also had a plugged tear duct that cleared itself up at about 3 months. Our ped. recommended gently massaging the area if we wanted, but told us that it would more than likely just clear itself up. He also said to make sure and use a warm, moist kleenex when cleaning off the gunk that comes along with a plugged tear duct, and to keep our fingers away since they have germs that can easily infect the eye. Give your DH a pat on the back for promoting the healing effects of breastmilk!!!

Hope this helps!!
LiSA
MartiesMom2B
04-18-2003, 11:29 AM
I too have read about the healing powers of breast milk as far as pink eye and cracked nipples. Haven't heard anything about the plugged tear duct though.

Good luck, I hope the tear duct clears up.

Sonia
Proud Mommy to Martie 4/6/03
Momof3Labs
04-18-2003, 06:37 PM
See if you can track down Joanne - I seem to remember her providing a colorful description of squirting Gannon in the eye with breastmilk to help clear up an infection!
jojo2324
04-18-2003, 11:45 PM
LOL!! Yes, I did squirt breastmilk in my DS's eye. And I have to say, it cleared up. :D I felt very strange doing it, but then I wondered which was stranger: Willingly putting some sort of laboratory-mixed concoction in his eye, or something natural that I had produced which silmutaneously was staving off illness and nourishing him?

The hidden earth mother in me won. And it really did work!