Cosmetic Rehabilitation of Disfigured Eyes

Hi, I’m Dr Hrishikesh Tadwalkar, and I’m the consultant of oculoplastic surgery or also known as eye plastic. In this speciality, I look after the diseases of an eyelid, the lachrymal system or the tear drainage system, and orbital diseases, i.e, the diseases pertaining to the muscles and other soft tissues which are behind the eye and also the bones which surround the eye.

Today I would like to speak about a very important condition that we handle in this department, and that is the cosmetic rehabilitation of disfigured eyes. Eyes get disfigured or they get damaged, they lose vision due to many conditions. Be it some tumours inside the eye for which the eyes have to be removed, or more commonly during injuries like road traffic accidents or other injuries like assault or chemical injuries like acid or alkali burns.

When we look at a person while interacting, we look at the eye, and therefore it is very important to have a normal appearance in both eyes. If unfortunately, vision cannot be restored in an eye, still, the cosmetic appearance need to be restored to give the patient both psychological confidence, as well as an ability to move about in society with confidence. In this particular condition, we try to customize the treatment, because every person comes with different diseases. We first evaluate it thoroughly and then discuss with the patients about the various treatment options that are available in terms of surgery. The types of implants that are choices available that we can put, and lastly, what kind of surgery will we be undergoing. Once this is decided, the patient undergoes the surgery.

There are different types of surgery like Evisceration, Exenteration, Enucleation, etc. But surgery is only half the part of this treatment. After the surgery, the post-operation period, the patient is carefully monitored for wound healing. And once the wound is healed, which takes about six to eight weeks.

The second part, or even more important part, is fitting with an artificial prosthesis. At our Institute, we have a complete full-fledged custom made artificial eye fitting prosthetic center, where step wise the socket is assessed for the size and various models are made of the artificial eye which are then fitted to the patient and then hand painted to match the other eye. Once this artificial eye is fabricated, the patient is taught in a detailed manner how to wear it, how to take care of it, how to clean it, and then the patient is given instructions as to what medicines are to be put. In this way, we make sure that the patients are satisfied with the appearance. This and many more conditions are treated in such detailed manner at our Institute.

If you have any questions or if you have any queries, or if you have a patient who needs to consult, then please get in touch with me through Lybrate.com. Thank you.