Why do we get a runny nose after we Cry?

This runny nose is not mucus, but it actually is tears that came from your eyes.

Tears are produced by the lacrimal gland or commonly known as your tear gland located just above your eyes. Tears are important as a lubricant and to clean our eyes from particles in the air and are consistently produced by blinking our eyes. That is why when you feel your eyes are dry you are told to blink more. The tears are drained out to our noses through a lacrimal punctum. The lacrimal punctum is located in the inner corner of your eyes at both the upper and bottom eyelids. It is a small hole where your tears are drained to. In normal circumstances, the tears produced are very little and thus you may not notice it as it went into your nose. However, when you are crying you produced an excess of tears, and this tear goes into your nose mixed with the mucus that is already there and produces the snot which you usually have following a cry.

A blocked tear duct is a full or partial obstruction (blockage) in the nasal (nose) passageways that drain tears. If you have a blocked tear duct, your eyes may be itchy, irritated and watery. Another name for a blocked tear duct is nasolacrimal duct obstruction. Lacrimal refers to tears.

When a blocked tear duct doesn't open on its own, these techniques can help infants and adults:

Massage:

One of the easiest ways to fix a blockage in babies (or adults) is to massage the lacrimal sac -- the area where tears drain from the eye into the tear duct.

Antibiotics:

Your doctor may prescribe antibiotic eye drops or ointment.

Tear Duct Probing:

If your child's tear duct doesn't open on its own by age one, the doctor can do a procedure to remove the blockage.

For a few hours after tear duct probing, some children have blood-colored fluid drain from the eye.

Balloon Catheter Dilation:

If the blockage doesn't get better on its own or with probing, the doctor might try balloon catheter dilation.