Expansion Conformers

Expansion conformers gently enlarge the eye socket in adults needing or wearing prosthetic eyes or babies born with inherited conditions affecting their eyes. At United Ocular in Midvale, Utah, you can depend on their expertise in creating customized expansion conformers. Call United Ocular or use online booking to schedule an appointment to learn how expansion conformers improve your eyes’ look and functionality.

What are expansion conformers?

A conformer is a clear plastic prosthesis placed in the eye socket after eye-removal surgery. The conformer fits between the round implant that supports the eye’s shape and the eyelids, serving as a placeholder for your future prosthetic eye and supporting eyelid function.

After your United Ocular provider creates your artificial eye or scleral cover shell, they remove the conformer and replace it with the permanent prosthesis.

However, expansion conformers have other therapeutic purposes. Your provider uses expansion conformers to enlarge the eye socket. You may only need one conformer, or your United Ocular provider may insert a series of conformers.

Each conformer in the series is slightly larger than the previous one, allowing them to expand the tissues in the eye socket gradually and gently.

Who needs expansion conformers?

You may need expansion conformers (also called conformer therapy) to create more room for your new eye or sclera cover shell. This therapy may also help if the tissues in the eye socket tighten around your prosthesis.

The United Ocular team also uses expansion conformers to treat two inherited conditions: microphthalmia and anophthalmia. 

Microphthalmia occurs when one or both eyes don’t fully develop, resulting in smaller than normal eyes. People with anophthalmia are born without one or both eyes.

Both conditions rely on expansion conformers to ensure the eye sockets grow to their expected size and shape. In addition to supporting growth, expansion conformers promote healing and stimulate soft and bony tissue growth in the eye socket.

What should I expect if my baby needs expansion conformers?

Your United Ocular specialist customizes the conformers to fit your baby’s eyes. Since babies grow quickly, your provider replaces the conformer every few weeks or months.

When your child turns one or two, your provider replaces the expansion conformers with a prosthetic eye (ocular prosthesis) or a scleral cover shell. The team is highly skilled in painting the prosthesis to look like your child’s other eye.

Like the conformers, children need new prosthetic eyes every few years as they grow and their facial shape changes. 

Call the compassionate United Ocular providers today or use online booking to schedule a consultation and learn more about expansion conformers.