Prosthetic Eye Care

I had my eye removed in 2009. I created a post for the whole story if you are interested. 

I bought a lot of the expensive oils and care items when I first had the surgery. I don’t really use anything specific for artificial eyes anymore. The list below are my “Must Haves”. 

  • Saline Solution
    • This is cheap and easy to keep small bottles in several places. I use saline solution most mornings and at night to clean my eye without having to go through the chore of removing. It is an easy refresh that does a better job than plain water.
  • Denture Cleaning Tablets
    • About once a month I soak my eye in a glass of water with a denture cleaning tablet. Its helpful to remove any small particles that irritate my eyelid.
  • Mineral Oil
    • On super cold days I like to use a little mineral oil on my eye when I sleep. I feel like it coats my eyelid as well.
  • Cotton Victoria Secret Eye Mask
    • A soft cotton eye mask is a life saver for both eyes! The Victoria Secret ones are my favorite. My husband even sleeps with one of mine sometimes!
    • This is two fold:
      • Sometimes my eye opens in my sleep which just makes me uncomfortable and sometimes my husband even thinks I’m awake when I’m not.
      • If my eyelid in my prosthetic eye opens it makes the eyelid on my good eye open and then I scratch my good eye! Ugh I have done this so many times. It is painful and then you can’t see anything until it heals.
  • Eyepatches for glasses
    • When you first have your eye removed you have to wear an eyepatch until your socket heals and you can be fitted for a prosthesis. I originally bought cute “pirate” type patches with the strap. These do not work for me because
      • I wear glasses and they don’t fit
      • If you can’t see you do not know for sure the patch is covering your eye and these move easy.
    • Eyepatches specific for glasses wearers are a must. Something like this I made several of my own with pieces of foam.