{"id":167,"date":"2018-10-22T00:39:28","date_gmt":"2018-10-22T00:39:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eyedoctorsite.com\/blog\/?p=167"},"modified":"2021-05-11T19:52:16","modified_gmt":"2021-05-11T19:52:16","slug":"are-colored-contact-lenses-for-halloween-safe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eyedoctorsite.com\/blog\/are-colored-contact-lenses-for-halloween-safe\/","title":{"rendered":"Are Colored Contact Lenses for Halloween Safe?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Halloween is a fun time when both children and adults dress up in costumes to go trick-or-treating and attend parties. Many people are very creative and \u201cwow\u201d others with their costumes and accessories. In fact, some may wear decorative contact lenses as part of their costumes. These contact lenses can make your eyes look different in many ways, from changing your eye\u2019s color or pupil shape to giving cartoon or film character effects. Some examples that can be purchased include blackout contacts, whiteout contacts, cat eyes and zombie eye contacts. They can be made with or without vision correction.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the United States it is illegal for any vendor, including those who sell online, to sell any contact lenses without a prescription from an eye care professional. Advertisements that claim ‘one size fits all’ or ‘there is no need to see an eye doctor’ is wrong. Non-prescription costume contacts can cut, scratch and infect your eye if they don’t fit exactly right. Unfortunately there are many patients who developed corneal abrasions, corneal ulcers and potentially blinding painful bacterial infections like keratitis. Many costume or theatrical contact lenses allow less oxygen through to the eye, because the paints and pigments used to add color make the lenses thicker and less breathable. This creates an ideal environment for bacteria to grow and cause painful infections. <\/span><\/p>\n

Contact lenses are medical devices that require a commitment to proper wear and care by the wearer. When people use contact lenses of any kind, it is important that they understand the risks. Even under the best supervision, injury and infections can occur with any contact lenses. After you have been to an ophthalmologist and received a prescription, be sure to only buy costume contacts from retailers who require a prescription to purchase the lenses and who only sell FDA-approved contact lenses. <\/span><\/p>\n

During the eye exam, your ophthalmologist or optometrist will:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Measure your eyes in order to properly fit the contacts.<\/li>\n
  2. Assess whether or not you are a good candidate for contacts in general. People who have frequent eye infections, severe allergies, dry eye, frequent exposure to dust or smoke or an inability to handle and care for the lenses may not be suitable candidates for even regular corrective contacts.<\/li>\n
  3. Instruct you on appropriate contact lens care. Lenses that are not cleaned and disinfected increase the risk of eye infection.<\/li>\n
  4. Tell you how long you can wear the costume contacts. For instance, you should never sleep in any contact lenses that aren\u2019t designed for overnight wear.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    To stay safe but be scary this Halloween, we would like to offer these five tips. First of all, get a comprehensive eye examination and proper fitting and prescription for decorative contacts lenses, even if you don’t require lenses to correct your vision. Be sure to use cleaning solution, rub the lenses between your fingers and rinse thoroughly before soaking lenses overnight. It is very important to store the contact lenses in the proper lens storage case and replace your case every three months. Please do not share your lenses with friends or family members. No matter how tired you are, do not sleep in your contacts.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Counterfeit lenses are common especially if you\u2019re buying through an illegal outlet. Some illegal lenses have even been found to be re-packaged and can be contaminated with chemicals or germs when you receive them. If you\u2019re buying lenses that haven\u2019t been FDA-approved or you\u2019re buying through a dealer who isn\u2019t regulated by the FDA, you cannot be sure of anything you\u2019re receiving. The lenses you get may not be what you ordered, they may not be clean or correctly packaged and they may not be the right size or shape for your eye to begin with. The risks aren\u2019t worth it. <\/span><\/p>\n

    Have a Happy Halloween.\u00a0 Have fun. Be safe.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u00a0 Halloween is a fun time when both children and adults dress up in costumes to go trick-or-treating and attend parties. Many people are very creative and \u201cwow\u201d others with their costumes and accessories. In fact, some may wear decorative contact lenses as part of their costumes. These contact lenses can make your eyes look…","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":168,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eyedoctorsite.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eyedoctorsite.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eyedoctorsite.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eyedoctorsite.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eyedoctorsite.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=167"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eyedoctorsite.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":286,"href":"https:\/\/eyedoctorsite.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167\/revisions\/286"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eyedoctorsite.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eyedoctorsite.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eyedoctorsite.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eyedoctorsite.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}