Blog page about Artificial Eyes and Optometry posts

Successful Artificial Eye Fitting

8/29/2017

Another happy patient. At first, she was hesitant to have an Artificial eye fitting done because of how far her location is to my clinic. We had to compress her Artificial eye fitting from three days to two days so that we could lessen her visiting time.

The result was good and even I was happy of the result. It was a good for for an Artificial eye fitting.

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Prosthetic Eye Dryness

8/14/2017

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Prosthetic Eye dryness, Why, What and how.

Artificial Eye users may experience Prosthetic Eye Dryness while using their prosthesis. To learn more on why this dryness occur, I divided this post in 4 segments.

What are tears?
What makes up the tears?
Reasons why a person experiences dry eye
Recommended plan for the symptom

What are Tears?

Tears are watery substances secreted by our Lacrimal Gland. Aside from preventing our Eyes from getting dry, it also serves as a cleaning agent to protect our eyes from infectious agents and It plays a part in the osmotic regulation.

What makes up the Tears?
Our tears are made up 3 distinct layers.
Namely:

The Lipid Layer
The Aqueous Layer
Mucin Layer

The Lipid layer

It provides a hydrophobic barrier that envelops tears and prevents it from spilling into the cheek

Aqueous Layer

It promotes the spreading of the tear film in your cornea, and it controls the infectious agents that might infect the eye.

Mucin Layer
- it coats the cornea and provides a hydrophilic layer. It's what makes the tears film evenly distributed all over the cornea.

There are three reasons how a person, regardless if they are a Prosthetic Eye user or not, can experience Dryness.

First, There could be a decrease in the production of Tears

There are many reasons why our eyes are unable to produce enough tears. Namely:
- Aging
- Certain medical conditions such as Vitamin A deficiency, Sjorgen Syndrome, Thyroid disorder, Diabetes, Rheumatoid Arthritis and many more.
- Medications such as antihistamines, decongestant, Birth control, Hormone replacement therapy, etc.
- Lacrimal(or Tear) gland damage because of an inflammation or surgery.

Secondly, It could be caused by an increase in tear evaporation.

This is more of because of the lifestyle of the person.
Common cause of an increase in tear evaporation could be, but not limited to:
- Windy, smoky, too cold or too dry/hot air in the environment
- Blinking less when you're using your computer, driving, watching TV/Cinema, or simply reading a book.
- Your eyes are turned outward (Ectropion) or turned inward (Entropion) causing the tear film to always be exposed to air. This is very common to people who uses an Artificial Eye and are on their 50's.
- Eyelids are not closing well because of an accident, or they have worn the wrong size of Artificial Eye for years.

Third and lastly, There might be an imbalance of the Lipid, Aqueous and Mucin Layer of your tear film

Any problem with any one of these layers of the tear film may cause dryness on a person's eye.
An example could be when the Meibomian Gland(the gland that secretes the oil/lipid layer) is inflamed. A Meibomian gland Dysfunction (MGD) can cause a reduction a secretion of oil in the lipid layer and can result to an inflammation of the Eyelid. Such condition should be seen by your Ophthalmologist, or by a General Physician if the former is not readily available.

Recommendation

There are many lubricants that can be used to alleviate Prosthetic Eye dryness. The difference between an Artificial Eye and a Natural Human Eye is that a Human Eye doesn’t usually need a more viscous substance, unless they have severe dry eye.

As for an Artificial Eye, a more viscous substance is recommended to bring back the comfort of wearing the Prosthetic Eye.

Some Examples that could serve as a lubricant:

Artificial Eye Drops

They are a very useful lubricant for the eye, and some contains Vitamin E which are helpful for patients who still have scars in their eye socket. A few drops a day of this could prevent a person from experiencing Prosthetic Eye Dryness

Note: I recommend a more viscous Artificial tear especially to patients whose eyelids are partially opened and/or doesn't close close entirely when asleep or when blinking.

an Artificial Tear to relieve Prosthetic Eye Dryness

Artificial Tears to alleviate Prosthetic Eye dryness

Hard contact Lens Solution

They are very useful because they are both a lubricating agent as well as a cleaning agent for your Prosthetic Eye.
Hard contact Lens solutions are more viscous and contains ingredients that are used to clean and disinfects a Hard Contact Lens and removes proteins, which are sometimes present in your Artificial Eye.
With a Hard Contact Lens solution, you are able to prevent Prosthetic Eye Dryness as well as cleaning the prosthesis for a more comfortable feeling.

Ophthalmic Gels

Your Ophthalmologist might have had prescribed you with an antibiotic or steroid gels.
They can also be used as a lubricant, which means there is no need to use the first 2 that I mentioned if your Ophthalmologist still instructs you to apply the said Ophthalmic Gels

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Maintenance and Caring for your Artificial Eye

8/3/2017

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Always remember how glossy and clean your Artificial Eye looked like when you first got it.

This page is all about Information on Maintaining, cleaning, removing and taking care of Artificial Eyes.
Cleaning your Prosthetic eye could have many effects in your eye socket as well as to the Prosthetic Eye itself.
Correctly handling your prosthetic eye could lessen the chances of inflammation or infections in your eyelid as well as prolong the health an Artificial eyes.

How to remove an Artificial eye:
To avoid infection, make sure to wash your hands properly with an Anti-Bacterial Soap.
Avoid removing Artificial Eyes in a surface where it might get lost if it falls. (Eg. Sink or Toilet)

To Remove:

Place one finger on the lower eyelid surface with the Artificial eye, and slightly pull downward.
Look up, as in most cases, it loosens up the placement of the Artificial Eye
Let the other free hand be ready to catch the Artificial eye.
Using the finger that you placed in the lower lid, press it inward and/or pull it toward the ear.(while looking upward)

Note: There are other many ways to remove your prosthetic eye and the easiest is using a suction cup.

To Insert:

Use your index finger to lift the UPPER EYELID upward to create a space
Gently slide upward the Artificial eye inside the space the you created while lifting the upper eyelid.
Once you’ve inserted the Prosthetic eye or the Artificial eye inside the eye socket, gently and slightly pull the LOWER EYELID downward until the prosthetic eye fits properly and in place.

Cleaning: Gently rinse the Artificial Eye with water to easily remove any protein built ups or any debris. Use your fingers to gently scrub the prosthetic eye and remove the protein build ups and debris. Use only ANTI-BACTERIAL LIQUID SOAP for disinfection Dry by using a soft tissue, preferably a soft facial tissue

NOTE: This cleaning method is not a substitute for a Professional Polishing of your ocular prosthesis. It is recommended that you have your prosthetic Eye polished every 6 to 12 months, depending on your body chemistry.

A Hard Contact Lens Solution can also be a good alternative in cleaning and Artificial Eye. It Cleans, at the same time serves as a lubricant

An example of a well polished Artificial Eye

Professional Cleaning by your Doctor is still the best way to bring back the glossiness for your Artificial Eye

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Click here to know more about professional polishing of prosthetic eye. As well as the importance of having your prosthetic eye cleaned by your Doctor.

Have Questions or inquiries? You can easily contact me here

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Successful Artificial Eye Fitting

Prosthetic Eye Dryness

Prosthetic Eye dryness, Why, What and how.

Maintenance and Caring for your Artificial Eye

Welcome to my blogsite

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First time to wear prosthesis? Consultations are free!
We Would Love to Have You Visit Soon!

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Successful Artificial Eye Fitting

Prosthetic Eye Dryness

Prosthetic Eye dryness, Why, What and how.

Maintenance and Caring for your Artificial Eye

Welcome to my blogsite

Archives

Categories

First time to wear prosthesis? Consultations are free!We Would Love to Have You Visit Soon!

Hours

Telephone

Email

First time to wear prosthesis? Consultations are free!
We Would Love to Have You Visit Soon!