Wear and Care of Your Ocular Prosthesis
A Conventional Prosthesis​
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Always wash and rinse hands thoroughly before handling your prosthesis or touching your eyes.
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Each morning and evening, the prosthesis and socket should be irrigated with an ophthalmic irrigating solution (or normal saline). Flush a liberal amount into the nasal and outer corners of the eye with the prosthesis in place.
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Once each month (or as instructed) the prosthesis should be removed, and the socket irrigated.
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This is a great time to clean the prosthesis. See below.
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Carefully rinse the prosthesis a final time with sterile saline before re-inserting.
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A Scleral Shell Prosthesis
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Always wash and rinse hands thoroughly before handling your prosthesis or touching your eyes.
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Each morning and evening, the socket should be irrigated with an ophthalmic irrigating solution (or normal saline). Flush a liberal amount into the nasal and outer corners of the eye with the prosthesis in place.
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Unless otherwise instructed, you should remove and clean your scleral shell prosthesis every evening and store it in a clean and dry container.
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Cleaning instructions. See below.
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- Carefully rinse the prosthesis a final time with sterile saline before re-inserting.
- Avoid rubbing or touching your prosthesis. Treat the prosthesis and your lids very gently, as rubbing can cause it to rotate or even fall out.
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If you feel discomfort, remove your prosthesis. Clean the shell as instructed above. If the problem persists, remove the shell and contact your ocularist or eye physician. ​
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See your ophthalmologist at least once a year, or as instructed.
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How to Clean Your Prosthesis
1) Cover any drains!
2) Clean your hands thoroughly.
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3) Clean prosthesis with hard contact lens cleaner or solutions especially made for cleaning artificial eyes. Apply 2-3 drops to the prosthesis, and rub with your fingers to remove deposits.
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3) Rinse thoroughly with warm water.
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4) Gently dry and examine for any remaining deposits (dull, non-glossy spots).
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5) If necessary, store in a clean, dry container.
How to Insert Your Prosthesis
1) Wash hands thoroughly. (Pre-moistening the eye with water or a contact lens wetting agent may make insertion easier).
2) Facing a mirror, hold the prosthesis either with the suction cup attached, or between the thumb and middle finger so that the upper part is upward and the back of the prosthesis is facing the socket. Most of our prostheses are marked with a red dot at the top. Most also have a pinkish tint at the nasal corner, towards the nose.
3) Raise the upper lid with the thumb or finger of the free hand (your left if you are right-handed).
4) Gently but firmly, slide the top part of the prosthesis up, under the upper lid until the upper lid begins to cover about one half of the iris color (or 1/3 to 1/2 of the clear conformer). Use the index finger to push the prosthesis upward if you are not using a suction cup.
5) Hold the prosthesis in that position. Release the hand which had lifted your upper lid and bring it down and around to pull the lower lid down sufficiently to allow the lower edge of the prosthesis to fall into place.
6) Blink a few times and the prosthesis should seat itself.
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