What causes an overactive tear duct and how is it treated?
MAR 10, 2014
Question:
What causes an overactive tear duct and how is it treated?
Answer:
Most consider tear overflow to be due to overactivity of the tear production circuit of the eye. In fact, most tear overflow is either due to outflow obstruction which maintains the tears in the eye beyond the capacity of the fluid spaces in the front of the eye to hold the extra amount, or it can paradoxically be due to eye dryness in which the eye—sensing dryness—sends a signal to produce an excess amount of tears to deal with the perceived dryness. Your ophthalmologist can diagnose which of these is the factor in your tear overflow as well as suggest effective treatment.