Patients often ask, why do my eye lids itch on
the artificial eye side and what can I do about it?
Although
socket itching can be caused by normal allergies, proteins accumulating on the
front surface of the prosthesis usually are the cause.
As a
prosthetic eye is worn, it becomes coated with the proteins from the tear
layer. This coating causes an allergic reaction to the underside of the
upper lid and often results in an itching sensation. Eye drops can help
with this problems and there are very good
eye
drops on the market that may provide you some relief.
Bausch and Lomb makes a drop called "Opcon A" that rally works well for
inching. They can be purchased over the counter at any drug store, but
we know Costco sells them two bottles to a box for about $10.00 However,
Wal-Mart has the same formula under their Equate brand® called Eye Allergies
Relief.
Your
artificial eye needs to be cleaned periodically to remove this protein.
However, most doctors and ocularists recommend
removing an artificial eye only as necessary, and that too much handling can
cause problems and increased secretions.
The
quest for most new patients is to find the amount of time that they can
wear their prosthesis before it needs cleaning or starts to itch. One
way to make this determination, is to wear the prosthesis until it starts to
feel uncomfortable or begins to itch.
Note the time the eye was worn before the
onset of these symptoms and remove the eye for the next cleaning well in
advance of this time period. With
experience, most patients will find the best schedule for their eye socket hygiene
requirements.
Many
ocularist have recall systems within their office and send out reminder cards for
cleaning and polishing. If you feel uncomfortable about handling your prosthesis,
ask your ocularist to send you a reminder card based on your needs.
With
proper maintenance, you will find wearing a prosthesis
to be a comfortable experience that is easy to manage.
