Right lacrimal bone

Looks like

The smallest and most fragile face bone, a fingernail-sized plate in the inner wall of the eye socket.

What it does

Forms the groove for the tear sac and the start of the canal that drains tears into the nose.

Keeping it well

A blocked tear duct gives a constantly watering eye; surgeons open a new passage through this bone (dacryocystorhinostomy).

Related conditions

• Achondroplasia
• Acromegaly
• Brain abscess
• Fractures
• Fragility fracture
• Frailty & falls in older age
• Hyperparathyroidism
• Osteogenesis imperfecta (brittle bone disease)
• Osteomalacia & rickets
• Osteomyelitis (bone infection)
• Osteoporosis
• Paget's disease of bone
• Sarcoma
• Traumatic brain injury (moderate to severe)
• Vitamin B1, C and other deficiencies
• Vitamin D deficiency