Punctal Plugs
The tears drain into the nose via the tear ducts.
In order to keep more tears in the eye longer, blocking the
outflow of tears is essential. The puncta is the
opening of the tear ducts on the eyelid margin.
Punctal plugs are inserted in either the lower or upper
eyelid puncta. A collagen plug which dissolves in two
to three days is typically used initially to evaluate how
much better the patient feels after receiving them.
If the patient is happy with the result, the consideration
for permanent occlusion with either a silicone punctal plug
or thermal punctal cautery is considered.
