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Beware of Over-the-Counter Decorative Contact Lenses This Halloween

Michelle Baron |
October 19, 2011 | 10:11 p.m. PDT

(Courtesy of Creative Commons)
(Courtesy of Creative Commons)

Wearing decorative contact lenses has become a trend in recent years, especially for occasions like Halloween. However, it is important to avoid the use of over-the-counter lenses as health experts warn that they can lead to serious vision-threatening problems.

According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), all contact lenses are considered ‘regulated medical devices’ and all consumers of contact lenses are required a prescription and proper fitting by an eye-care professional. Even someone with perfect vision is required an eye exam and a prescription in order to wear any kind of contacts, including cosmetic lenses. Any over-the-counter contact lenses are in violation of federal law, regardless of whether the product has marketing clearance.

While it is illegal to sell the non-FDA-approved lenses in the United States, they are nevertheless readily available for less than $20 on the Internet, ABC news reports. Because they're illegal to sell, there's relatively little regulation to ensure the contacts are made safely.

Besides lacking FDA approval, using over-the-counter decorative lenses poses a number of risks.

"If you get a contact lens without going through a doctor, you will have no education in care, cleaning and maintenance," said Hawke Yoon, a pediatric ophthalmologist at Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago.  

Decorative lenses are rarely custom made, and may not fit snugly against the eye. Doctors say that if the contacts don't fit properly, whether they are too tight or too loose, they can scratch the cornea, which can cause vision problems.

"There's literally that potential for someone to lose their vision within 24 hours and that's from infection," Dr. Assumpta Madu of the Montefiore Medical Center told ABC’s "Good Morning America."

Additionally, if the lenses do not fit snugly around the eye, it may limit how much oxygen reaches your eyes. The biggest sign of oxygen loss, reports Yahoo! Associated Content journalist Ann Olson, is irritation, redness and sometimes blurred vision. If left untreated, these complications may develop into permanent conditions.    

“Lesser-known companies are also known to use less flexible contacts that don't sit well on the eye”, Olson writes, “putting unnecessary pressure on the eyeball, which can worsen your vision.”

(Courtesy of Creative Commons)
(Courtesy of Creative Commons)

Beauty blogger Julie Han shared her own experience with decorative lenses, “When I first found out about decorative lenses, I was interested but was hesitant to buy them because I heard they were bad for your eyes. But then I thought, all the Korean celebrities are wearing them... they can't be that bad, right? I purchased decorative lenses at e-circlelens.com, a company based in Korea. The website looked legit and when I emailed them, they responded with a professional, knowledgeable response. I received the lenses and eventually started wearing them every day (or almost every day). After 4 months of frequent wear, my vision began to worsen. My optometrist advised me to stop wearing contacts for several weeks. When I began to wear contacts again, my eyes began to reject even regular contact lenses. Seven depressing months later, my eyes finally began to get better.”

"It's a pretty straightforward call," Dr. Nicholas Volpe, chairman of the department of ophthalmology at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, told Los Angeles Times. "Don't wear a contact lens if you don't know how to properly take care of it and if it has not been properly fitted and prescribed by a physician."

 

Reach Michelle Baron here.


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