Feb.
1, 2000 - Tuesday
Harry's tears from over the weekend
may not have been true tears. His mother's reading, along with a call to his
doctor, suggests that Harry may have a blocked tear duct in his right eye -
the only eye that seems to have had tears. Apparently this is a very common,
minor, and temporary developmental malady of infants and one that will likely
go away on its own in a fairly short period of time. The doctor suggested that
wiping the eye with a damp cloth or swab, from outside to inside toward the
nose, might assist its recovery, but it is not something to be alarmed by at
this time.
How a "blocked" tear duct could yield what seems like tears is a bit
of a puzzle for me, but Harry's mother explains that tear ducts are designed
to remove tear, or eye mositurizing, liquid from the entire eye. If a tear duct
is blocked, the tear liquid simply flows out the side of the eye, appeaing as
constant crying.
