[blindkid] prosthetic eye

[Richard Holloway]

It depends on a number of factors I suppose, and clearly this is a  
personal decision, but the bone around eyes grows in part as a  
reaction of the pressure and contact with the eye inside the eye  
socket.  If a child has an eye removed (or simply has a smaller than  
normal eye), expect that over time, unless you have a prothetic eye in  
place of the missing eye tissue the skull will not continue to develop  
in a typical way in the area of the eyes. That is really hard (or  
sometimes impossible) to correct later in life, even with complicated  
and expensive surgery.

In trying to be as correct as possible, I'd point out that  
"prosthetic" is apparently the correct term only if you've had an eye  
completely removed (or were born without an eye at all). (Prosthetic:  
"An artificial device used to replace a missing body part.") It is  
clearly the correct term in this case, but others should know that  
other terms like "scleral shell" or "conformer" generally apply when  
the device goes over existing eyes (somewhat like a giant, thick  
contact lens) and the important thing to know is the issue with bone  
growth applies in all the above cases. No matter which solution is  
appropriate, the appliance helps the bone develop normally and if it  
is not used, bone growth around the eye area will slow.

Another thing to keep in mind (fair or not) is that people react in  
unpredictable ways to eyes which don't look "normal". This is no doubt  
one reason why some blind people, even when they have no sensitivity  
to light at all, tend to wear sunglasses. A prosthetic can help a  
blind person "fit in" better. As your child gets a bit older, she will  
probably feel more and more self-conscience (as nearly all kids do)  
and this will help with that as far as looking "different" than other  
kids.  With younger children who are growing faster, clear conformers  
are generally used and as I understand it, there are some that are  
sort of "ready-made" but the better ones are custom fitted. Clear is  
used because it is cheaper for kids who are still growing so quickly  
that  cost would discourage "painted shells" being frequently replaced  
as they are outgrown. I suspect this may be the same with entire eyes,  
though clear conformers also let light through and that is obviously  
not a need for an eye which has been removed. (Clear helps those with  
light perception get more light in.)

By 5-1/2, the good news is that they these should last a lot longer  
than with really young kids. Our daughter has been wearing  
conformers / shells since she was a few months old and at first they  
only lasted a few months each. Now (our daughter is nearly 8) we can  
go a year or two with them. Some people have to take these out every  
night but we've been fortunate in that we can generally go for weeks  
or months without removing ours. The do fall out once in a while, but  
they're pretty easy to put back. It was a battle when she was small  
but much better over the last year or two.

Since you mention her other eye looks atypical, I would ask if it is  
also smaller than normal. If so, you may need to end up with a shell  
on that side (over her organic eye) to keep all the bone in her face  
growing and developing normally.

I hope that helps a little,

Richard



On Jul 29, 2010, at 11:13 AM, Samantha Parker wrote:

> Hello,
> My 5 1/2 year old just had her right eye removed.  The doctors have  
> assumed we would want to get a prosthetic eye but we have been  
> discussing the pros and cons and are wondering what others have  
> done.  Her other eye is not "normal" looking either.  And we have  
> other daily battles including oral eating...we are not sure as to  
> whether a prosthetic is a necessary battle...
>
> Thanks!
> Blessings,
> Sam
>
>
>
>
>
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