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.