ARGH! Here’s Why You Should Think Twice About Wearing Novelty Contact Lenses This Halloween

Fake blood? Check. Novelty wig? Check? Zombie contact lenses? Check.

There are numerous items on the quintessential Halloween costume checklist, but if horror contact lenses are on yours then you might want to reconsider.

See according to the College Of Optometrists, coloured lenses pose a major health risk to your eyes, because unlike the prescription version they aren’t fitted by professionals.

The really scary thing is that the lenses can also increase the risk of an infection called keratitis by 16 times and lead to painful scratches and irritation on the eye’s surface.

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“Most people think that you don’t need the same level of care when using novelty contact lenses as you do with ordinary contact lenses, because they don’t have a prescription,” Daniel Hardiman-McCartney, Clinical Adviser for the College of Optometrists explained.

“It is absolutely vital for the health of your eye that you are able to remove and insert your contact lenses safely, know how to keep them sterile, and have been instructed on how to do so by an optometrist.”

If that isn’t enough to make you flinch, Dr Elizabeth Becker, an optometrist in Oxford backs up these claims adding that “A contact lens that’s not fitting properly can squeeze the cornea and block blood vessels at edge of the cornea. It can be sight-threatening.” Ugh.

Unfortunately for 18-year-old student Tia Goode she experienced these ill effects firsthand last year when she ripped out her corneas after trying to remove her lenses and eventually had to make a trip to A&E.

The take-home message? Store-bought novelty lenses just really aren’t worth the risk, but if you really must wear them then get a pair on prescription from a registered optician.

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