After you receive your new artificial eye (ocular prosthesis), there are a few things you should know about caring for and handling it properly:

1.   Never clean or soak your artificial eye in rubbing alcohol because it will crack the plastic and destroy the ocular prosthesis.

2. Remove the ocular prosthesis only as necessary. Too much handling can cause socket irritation and result in excessive secretions.  Before wiping your artificial eye always close it first and wipe only from your ear toward your nose.  Otherwise it is possible to depress the lower lid below edge and the prosthesis and it will either turn in direction or come out.  If it does not come our it is very possible that it will turn in the socket, usually pointing in an outward direction requiring you to realign it.

3. If you remove your ocular prosthesis, be sure to store it in water or soft contact lens saline solution. This will keep deposits from drying on the surface.

4. Your ocular prosthesis may have a colored spot or mark on it and in most cases the spot goes up, under the upper lid upon insertion. It has been placed there to help you with the correct alignment... If you're in doubt, ask your ocularist.

5. To clean your prosthesis, use Ivory liquid, or an antibacterial soap product like Dial. Wash the eye between your fingertips. A damp Kleenex or cotton ball is also helpful to wipe away softened deposits from the surface. For more detailed cleaning information, see: care and cleaning within this site.

6. If you wish to or need to rinse out the socket, use sterile saline with an eye cup or bulb syringe. Usually the eye cup can be used with the prosthesis left in place. Sterile saline is available at the drugstore and is found in the contact lens solution section of the store.  We recommend saline that is preserved with Ascorbic Acid, like Bausch and Lomb Sensitive Eyes brand.  It is usually more comfortable to warm the solution in a microware for a 15 seconds or so until till tepid.

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