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Eerie Eye Care: Are Special Effect Lenses Safe For Halloween?

October 16, 2012

Have a safe and spooky Halloween with colored contact lens safety tips.

With just a few short weeks left until the frightful Halloween holiday is among us, kids and adults everywhere are beginning to pull out all of the stops in order to create a unique Halloween costume that is truly a treat. Whether you are going for the scare-factor and are dressing up as your favorite movie monster―vampires, goblins, ghosts… oh my!―or you prefer to take the funny approach with your costume, there are more than enough festive Halloween looks to choose between this fall.

However, for those who are really looking to go above and beyond with their costumes, sometimes a simple outfit itself isn’t enough. Many people will often add scary accessories and makeup to take their frightful costume one step further and stand out at their Halloween party. Another way that many people do this is by adding decorative contact lenses to their costume.

Adding  glowing red vampire eyes or bright green cat eyes to your Halloween costume is a great way to achieve that perfect look. However, while the lenses themselves are not dangerous, if used improperly, these fun Halloween accessories could cause a lot of damage to your eyesight, and could even result in long-lasting vision problems. Therefore, it is important that you follow helpful safety tips when buying these lenses to ensure that the frightfulness of your costume does not linger after Halloween has ended.

Before you head out and buy colored or decorative contact lenses for your upcoming Halloween party, be sure that you first read over these helpful vision safety tips:

Always Obtain A Prescription

Just as with regular corrective contact lenses, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration oversees the safety and effectiveness of decorative lenses. Therefore, they require the involvement of a qualified eye care professional and a valid prescription in order to obtain a pair that are safe for use. You should never buy lenses from salons or beauty stores, Halloween stores or novelty stores. These unregulated Halloween lenses could seriously damage your vision, as they are not properly tested for safety beforehand.

Choose The Correct Lenses For You

Another reason why it is so important to visit an eye doctor for your decorative lenses is because they will examine your eyes to make sure that the contacts fit properly. Because these lenses are not “one size fits all,” an eye doctor will measure each eye to properly fit the lens and test how your eye responds to the contact. This will ensure that you do not face the serious damage that can come with a poor-fitted contact lens.

Watch Out For Scary Side Effects

When using any type of contacts, prescription or decorative, it is important that you follow the proper instructions given to you by your eye doctor for their use and cleaning. Failure to keep your contact clean and moist can lead to serious eye infections and a decrease in vision. While this may make your scary zombie Halloween costume a little more realistic, eye infections can quickly become more serious and can even lead to blindness if not treated.

Halloween is a great time to dress up and pretend that you are someone that you are not. However, be sure that you follow these proper vision safety tips to ensure that your scary Halloween eyes do not carry on well after the festivities have ended.

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