Patients often ask, why does my artificial
eye tear more than my normal
eye? The first and most obvious answer
is that after enucleation the whole inside of the socket is mucus membrane, similar
to the inside of your nose. Because of this, there is just more fluid
producing tissue in an anophthalmic socket,
(absent of an eye) than in a normal eye.
In
addition, an artificial as smooth as it may be, is not as wet and soft to the
lids as a natural eye. Plastic or glass is not a water loving material,
and it takes a combination of tears, mucus and oil from your tear layer to
cause the surface of the artificial eye to become wet.
As
you wear a ocular prosthesis, it can dry out because of low humidity or air
condition, which in turn requires the socket to produce more tears to
lubricate the prosthesis surface. As this increase in tear flow takes
place, sometimes the tears will spill out onto the cheek. Many patients
find eye drops helpful on dry days and it is a good
idea to have some on hand. You will find them in the eye drops section of your
local drug store. A good choice is Opcon-A made by Bausch & Lomb.
Most of these unique symptoms
are normal for an anophthalmic socket. However, if the tears become green or
dark yellow in color, you should seek medical advice from your ophthalmologist or
family doctor.
