Tear Duct and Tear Sac Complaints

Your eye is tearing, even though you are not crying. The tear duct is blocked, the tear sac inflamed, the fluid is backing up — and overflowing where it does not belong. Perhaps it burns, perhaps it swells, perhaps an abscess is forming. Medically, this is a drainage disorder. A mechanical problem, treated with irrigation, antibiotics, or a minor procedure.

But why there? Why precisely at the place responsible for draining your tears? Tears are among your body's most honest responses. They come when something moves you — grief, tenderness, anger, overwhelm. When the channel that lets them flow is blocked, a deeper question arises: What in you wants to cry — and is not permitted to? What emotion is searching for an exit and cannot find one?

Your tear duct is not merely an anatomical tube. It is a valve. And when the valve jams, pressure builds.