Looking super freaky for Halloween is great and all, but turns out those coloured things you’re putting in your eyes aren’t actually all that good for you. Which when you think about it, isn’t all that surprising.
We had a bit of a shop around and basically the only place you should be buying contact lenses from is an optician. Otherwise you've got no guarantee of them being safe for you to wear - or use.
But don’t just take our word for it. The American Academy of Ophthalmology (great word) have warned people that lenses bought online might not be approved by the FDA. Yes, that applies to America, but we’re going to take a fairly educated guess that that means people are selling dodgy ones over here too.
According to their recent study non-prescription contact lenses can contain chlorine and iron - that’s what helps make them certain colours. Don’t know about you but that doesn’t sound like something I’d like to put in my eyes. Not one little bit. Also, in the US it's not even legal to sell contact lenses, colorued or not, without a prescription. Which gives you an idea of how dodgy it is to just buy them off a random guy on the internet.
If you wanted evidence from somewhere a bit closer to home about how they can mess up your eyes, Specsavers are also warning people about the dangers of using contact lenses if you're not used to handling them. Now, shrug your shoulders and ask 'c'mon, how hard can it really be' all you like, but take it from somoeone who's worn contact lenses for over a decade - they're tricksy little f*****s and taking them in and out, poking and scratching your eyes and occsaionally forgetting to take them out entirely is not something you want to try.
Still want to wear your bright yellow cat eyes tonight? Listen to Nigel Best then - a Specsavers clinical spokesperson. He said 'Hallowe’en contact lenses have become incredibly popular in recent years, however consumers often are not aware of the risks associated with misusing contact lenses.
'In particular, if a wearer hasn’t had a proper consultation with an optometrist beforehand, they probably haven’t been taught how to wear or care for their lenses correctly.
'The results can be nasty and range from mildly irritating complications, to potentially sight-threatening conditions such as fungal infections like Microbial Keratitis.'
I have no idea what Microbial Keratitis is but it sounds so rank I don't even want to Google it.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.