Misaligned Eye

What is a Misaligned Eye?

What is a Misaligned eye? Technically, a misaligned eye is called strabismus. Many people believe that having a misaligned eye or strabismus is simply a problem they will have to live with forever. In fact, an ocular prosthesis can help people with misaligned eyes look and feel “normal,” and thereby help other people feel normal around them.

It is often thought that ocular prosthetics are round and sit in empty ocular sockets. But it is important to understand that not all prosthetic eyes are round spheres that sit in empty sockets. Many prosthetic eyes are actually more like shells (known as scleral shells or scleral contact lenses), which sit on top of eyes that either don’t look great (but can still see), or that are healthy but have no vision. A scleral contact lens can be created for you that looks exactly like your other eye, and which allows you to see through it, but which helps correct the problem of the misaligned eye.

The first step in creating a scleral contact lens is to come into the office for a preliminary consultation. The ocularist will evaluate each person’s unique situation and make a recommendation as to how to proceed. The next step is to have an impression taken of the eye. This impression is much like a dental impression taken at an orthodontist’s office, but taken in the ocular cavity rather than the mouth. Many people find the impression to be the most uncomfortable part of the process, but your ocularist will walk you through how to prepare properly so that you are as comfortable as possible.

At the office of John Stolpe, the iris we create is one of the highest quality irises available anywhere on the market. We are pioneering the manufacture of digital irises in the ocularist field by using an extremely high quality digital camera to replicate with great fidelity a patient’s existing eye. The patient’s veining pattern is reproduced with red silk threads. Read more about our pioneering work in manufacturing digital irises here. We believe that digital irises will revolutionize the ocularist field by allowing practitioners to concentrate their energies on fit and movement rather than the current focus on color reproduction.

Once your new piece is ready, your ocularist will work with you on how to care for it. Patients usually sleep in their pieces and only take them out a few times a year, at routine ocularist visits for professional cleaning. However, depending on your particular situation, your ocularist may create a different care regimen for you.

Staff members at the office of John Stolpe have suffered eye trauma themselves and know how difficult and embarrassing it can be to deal with a misaligned eye. This empathy helps create an extremely safe and comfortable atmosphere for our patients and we pride ourselves in the highest standards of integrity, care and approachable “bedside manner.” It is unfortunate that many people with crooked eyes or misaligned eyes are not aware how much their lives could be improved through the kind of high quality ocular prosthetic that we create. We hope you will make an appointment to visit the office soon and learn how we can help you live a more happy, comfortable and confident life.

Connect with us: John Stolpe