Costume Contact Lens Warnings

Are you looking for costume contact lenses for Halloween??? If yess, Don't get distracted by the fancy packaging like "Crazy lens for your wild fantasies", they might make you look crazy, but the harm hidden behind these fancy statements can turn your dreamy night into a nightmare.

What are costume Contact lenses??

Just like any other foreign body which causes irritation in your eyes, costume contact lenses are also considered foreign bodies for your eyes. These lenses have multiple names, such as cosmetic contact lenses, decorative contact lenses, and colored contact lenses, etc. These are colored lenses which are for the sole purpose of fun. They will enhance the beauty of your eye looks for Halloween and can act as a silent thief of your vision. You are center focused on the attractive looks of your eyes and are kept unaware of the complications caused by them. So, before buying costume contact lenses, it's important for you to get aware of the negative features of these lenses:
  1. These are artificially colored. The material of the color coated on these lenses is harmful for your precious eyes.
  2. These act as a barrier to your eyes and decrease the transmission of oxygen to your eyes, which makes your eyes prone to infections.
  3. These are given without any pre-wear examination by any non eye care practitioners of stores and beauty parlors, it's an illegal way to sell contact lenses without prescription of an optometrist.
  4. They are not custom made, instead available in the same diameter and base curve for all customers, thus size, shape and diameter is poorly fitted which can scratch the eye surface.
  5. Costume or decorative contact lenses are sold in stores from unauthorized sources illegally. These stores don't guide them about the contact lens wear, care and eye health due to which people are prone to increasing chances of eye complications.
In 2017, a survey was conducted in Texas among women wearing costume contact lenses and following common complications were reported among them:
  1. Eye pain
  2. Discomfort
  3. Watering in eyes
  4. Itching
  5. Redness
  6. Swelling of eyes

Risks Associated with Costume Contact Lenses

In addition to the above complications, following risk factors should also be kept in mind:
  1. These lenses affect the outermost layer of cornea called epithelium thus leading to multiple corneal complications such as:
    1. Corneal Abrasions: Irrelevant size and poor fitting of decorative contact lenses can scratch the outer layer of eye thus leading to corneal abrasions.
    2. Corneal Ulcer: When corneal abrasions are not resolved, can further lead to corneal ulcer which is a white dot on cornea. When corneal ulcer heals, it leaves a subtle scar on the cornea thus affecting the vision permanently.
    3. Corneal transplant is even needed if the cornea is damaged completely.
  2. Cosmetic contact lens wearing increases the chances of eye infections such as Keratitis
  3. Sharing costume lenses is also a threatening sign for your eyes as they will cause the Pink eye which is a highly contagious disease.
  4. Costume contact lenses are made up of chemicals such as chlorine which can get absorbed in the eye thus leading to vision loss.
  5. Complications caused by costume contact lenses can further lead to sight threatening eye diseases such as Cataract and Glaucoma , which can progress to complete blindness.
After knowing all these risk factors and complications, think multiple times before buying these costume lenses from illegal sources which are not approved by FDA.

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