Dacryocystitis is a condition wherein the tear duct that carries tears from the nose to the eye is blocked. The condition could be acute and painful, showing up with swelling and redness in the tear duct area close to the nose. It could also be chronic, which means it could be mild in nature but recur frequently. The former kind of dacryocystitis could be because of any kind of injury or the result of an infection, though that is rare. This can affect people of all ages at any stage. The latter kind is the type that is most usually found in infants. The reason for this being that their tear ducts are not fully developed and tend to clog easily due to their frequent bouts of crying.
On the whole, however, the precise reason for occurrence of dacryocystitis remains a mystery. The good part is that it clears up quite simply and mostly on its own. In some severe cases, however, a simple and small surgery may be called for. But for most part, massaging the bridge of the nose close to the eye or applying warm compresses takes care of the problem. In infants, it is believed that squirting breast milk into the eye can help cure it.
answered by G R