Insertion & Care of Eye

Insertion

• Ensure hands are well washed
• Place the eye on the palm of your hand. Pick it up keeping the short ‘white’ side under your index finger. With your free hand raise the upper lid sufficiently to let the eye slide under the lid and hold in position for a moment in order to position the lower lid over the bottom of the eye

Removal

• You will be shown how to remove the eye without an extractor but if you do have to use one you:
• Introduce the tip of the extractor over the lower lid until it touches the eye
• Slide the tip under the eye as you look up and with a slightly levering action remove You will be shown how to remove the eye without the use of an extractor but when the eye

General

The care of an artificial eye in some respects is similar to dentures. Dentures build up ‘plaque’ on the surface and an eye builds up a rather similar covering of protein which if left on the surface can become hard and under a microscope can resemble sandpaper. You can imagine the damage this can do to your socket considering the number of times you blink or move your eye even in a minute. Over a long period this can result copious amounts of discharge, contraction of the socket tissue resulting in the eye falling out and irreparable damage other than corrective surgery. Mervyn recommends the removal of the eye on a daily basis to avoid this. You should ensure, without fail, that you return to an Ocularist every year to have your eye cleaned and polished. The eye can pick up micro scratches and deposits. Minor aberrations to the shape can also be corrected as well as colour, if necessary.