Tear glands can also be infected, what are the symptoms and dangers?

Ever wondered where human tears come from? Tears are produced by tear glands, which are small glands that are at the back of the nose. Well, tear production plays a very important role in maintaining the health of your eyes. The health of the tear glands must be maintained because these organs can become infected. Infection of this gland is known as dacryocystitis.

What is dacryocystitis?

Dacryocystitis is the medical term for a tear gland infection. Eyes that experience this condition will experience sores and swelling as well as reddening of the eye that borders the nose. This is caused by an inflammatory process that can take place both acutely and chronically.

Human tears are produced by glands called lacrimals. The lacrimal glands are located on your upper eyelid. Once produced, the tears will flow into the small openings in the front of the eye. Every time you blink, the tears will spread to all parts of the eye.

The tears will then flow again down the tiny holes, called puncta, to move through the lacrimal ducts to the back of your nose. Well, infection in dacryocystitis usually occurs due to a blockage in the lacrimal duct, which triggers a buildup of bacteria in the lacrimal gland.

What are the symptoms of dacryocystitis?

The main symptom of dacryocystitis or a tear gland infection is overly watery eyes. You may also experience pain. This acute inflammatory condition from infection of the tear glands can also cause pus to emerge from the corner of the eye, leading to fever.

Inflammation from dacryocystitis can also be slow or chronic (repeated or lasting months or more) with usually milder symptoms. Chronic dacryocystitis often causes only watery eyes, without signs of inflammation such as swelling.

Acute infection of the tear glands can become a serious health condition if not treated promptly. If a person has a tear gland infection that leads to fever, seek treatment immediately before the infection spreads to the eye bags. This condition can cause the infection to spread through the blood, potentially leading to blindness.

Another complication if the infection lasts too long is the appearance of several diseases. For example a brain abscess, which is when pus clogs up in the brain; meningitis due to inflammation spreads around the lining of the brain and spine; to sepsis or blood poisoning.

What causes tear gland infections?

One common cause of dacryocystitis is blockage of the tear ducts or lacrimal ducts. Tear duct blockage occurs when the drainage system for tears is either partially or completely blocked.

The unabsorbed tear fluid provides an ideal environment for bacterial growth in particular Staphylococcus aureus. As a result, tears cannot dry up normally, which can lead to watery, irritated, or chronically infected eyes.

The following are symptoms of blocked tear ducts that you need to be aware of because they may develop into an infection:

• Excessive tears
• Red eyes
• Painful swelling near the inner corner of the eye
• Hardening of the eyelids
• Mucous or mucus out
• Blurred vision

Congenital birth

The condition of dacryocystitis is most often found in infants. This is due to a blockage in the tear duct as congenital or what is known as congenital dacryocystitis.

The most common reason why the tear ducts in babies can become blocked is because the hole in the eyelid (punta) in the baby has not fully developed. As a result, the tear ducts become blocked in the baby, which then keeps the tears pooling on the surface of the eye.

Most of these conditions get better on their own because the tear glands will dilate with growth.

However, congenital tear gland infections can also persist as a result of incomplete development or the development of cysts that block the tear ducts. This causes the infection to occur chronically and can only be detected by examination ultrasound.

Elderly

Dacryocystitis can also be experienced by the elderly (elderly) because the tear glands of the elderly tend to narrow with age. However, this condition is more common in older women than men because their tear ducts tend to be smaller.

Several other factors also increase a person's risk of experiencing dacryocystitis, including the following.

• Infection or inflammation. Chronic infection or inflammation of the eye, tear-draining system, or nose can cause the tear ducts to become blocked. Chronic sinusitis can irritate the tissues and form sores, which eventually clog the tear duct system.
• Trauma. Trauma or eye injury from an accident, such as a broken nose, can block the tear ducts.
• Tumor. The presence of a tumor can compress the tear duct system and prevent drainage.
• Chemotherapy drugs and radiation treatment for cancer. Cancer treatments can cause this condition, as a possible side effect.
• Septal deviation, is a condition in which the septum (the wall that becomes the barrier between the two nasal cavities) is not right in the middle. As a result, one of the nostrils becomes smaller.
• Rhinitis, or inflammation of the mucous membrane lining of the nose.

How is this condition diagnosed?

To diagnose dacryocystitis or a tear gland infection, your doctor will ask about your symptoms, examine your eyes to see if there are other possible causes, and perform a number of eye tests.

The following tests can be used to diagnose your condition:

• Tear-drying test. This test measures how quickly your tears dry up.
• Watering and probing. The doctor can pour a saline solution through the tear flow system to check how quickly the solution is drying.
• Eye imaging tests such as X-rays, CT scans, MRI. This procedure is applied to check the location and cause of the blockage.

Treatment of dacryocystitis so that it does not get serious

Treatment depends on the cause of the blockage of the tear ducts. Sometimes, more than one treatment is needed in a blocked tear duct. These treatments include:

• Antibiotics. For infections caused by bacteria, your doctor may prescribe antibiotics in the form of oral medications or eye drops.
• Massage the tear glands. To help open up the baby's tear ducts, ask the doctor to show you how to massage the tear glands. Basically, you can apply gentle pressure between the glands on the side of the upper nose to try to smooth them out.
• Waiting for the injury to heal. If you have a fatal injury that causes the tear duct to become blocked, your doctor may recommend that you wait a few months to see if your condition improves as your injury heals.
• Dilation, probing, and flushing. For infants and toddlers whose tear duct obstruction does not open on its own, or for adults who have partially blocked tear ducts, dilating, probing, and exposing techniques may be used.
• Balloon catheter dilatation. If other treatments have not been successful or the dacryocystitis recurs, this procedure can be used. It is usually effective for babies and toddlers, and can also be used in adults with partial blockage.
• Insertion of a stent or intubation. This procedure is usually used under local anesthesia or anesthesia.
• Operation (dacryocystorhinostomy). This procedure opens the way for the tears to flow back up through the nose.

In the meantime, you can also prevent dacryocystitis or the infection gets worse. The trick is to drain the drains, namely by sticking a cloth dampened with warm water around the tear ducts.

Make sure your hands are thoroughly washed before doing it. Press the damp cloth gently. This method can help pus and fluid drain out of the tear ducts.