Hygienic Care of Your Ocular Prosthesis or Scleral Shell
What is the norm for cleaning your prosthetic eye?
It is recommended that you remove your prosthesis as needed to clean and reinsert.
This should be discussed with your Ocularist as depending on your degree of lid closure may determine the frequency. As a guideline, cleaning once a month seems to be a good balance. Of course if you feel the need to do sooner you can. Also, if after a month it looks fine and feels fine then go a bit longer.
NEVER soak the ocular prosthesis in alcohol. This will destroy and craze the acrylics.
Never use any harsh cleaning products.
ONLY use a mild baby shampoo as this will destroy bacteria and remove natural oily or filmy build up created by your tear composition.
How to Clean Your Prosthetic
Your morning routine should start with gently cleansing your lids with a diluted “pea size” drop of diluted baby shampoo.
- Wash your hands
- Place a soft face cloth in the sink
- Remove the device and apply a small “dime size” amount of baby shampoo and gently wash between your fingers with warm running water
- Rinse well
- Inspect it for cleanliness and shine
- Carefully re-insert
Prosthetic Eye Lubricants
If you feel the need to lubricate your artificial eye/scleral shell you should discuss the type of eye drop to use with your eye doctor or ocularist. There are a few heavier lubricants available from the US that are manufactured for this purpose that may be better suited than over-the-counter eye drops.
There are many less viscous over-the-counter eye drop lubricants that are also manufactured for a healthy seeing eye and the type of lubricant will affect your comfort.