Are Costume Contacts Safe?

Although changing the way your eyes look can be a lot of fun, wearing costume contact lenses (aka decorative or cosmetic contact lenses) can be detrimental to your eye health. Even wearing these lenses for just a few hours can damage the eye.

What Makes Costume Contacts Dangerous?

For contacts to fit correctly, they must be customized for a specific individual. Wearing contacts of the wrong size and shape can result in painful, potentially blinding corneal ulcers and abrasions.

Costume contact lenses may reduce the amount of oxygen the eye gets. This lack of oxygen results from the pigments and paints used while creating cheap, non-prescription decorative contact lenses.

Cheap, ill-fitting contact lenses can scratch, cut and permanently damage the eyes. Damaging the eye in this way leads to unpleasant, very uncomfortable symptoms, with the worst-case scenario being blindness.

A one-size-fits-all contact lens can scratch and cut the eye, making it susceptible to bacteria. When bacteria enter into the eye, an eye infection is likely.

It Only Takes a Few Days for Keratitis to Destroy an Individual’s Vision

Once bacteria enter the eye, a serious bacterial eye infection (e.g., keratitis) may result. The type of keratitis infection varies, with some having the ability to destroy an individual’s vision within just a few days.

What Are the Risks Associated with Wearing Costume Contact Lenses?

Wearing any type of contact lenses can lead to eye damage; however, costume contact lenses make an injury more likely because they are not tailored to fit the wearer’s eyes. Nonetheless, individuals interested in wearing costume lenses in North Syracuse, New York, may be able to get the contact lens design they want through Dr. Rebecca McPherson.

Potential risks include:

• An allergic reaction resulting in watery eyes that are red and itchy.
• A corneal abrasion.
• Infection.
• A decrease in vision.
• Blindness.

What Are the Signs of An Eye Infection?

Whether wearing prescription contacts or some type of decorative contact, knowing the signs that indicate the possibility of an eye infection could save your sight.

Signs of an eye infection include:

• Persistent eye pain.
• Redness.
• Decreased vision.

When any of these signs are present, you need to make an appointment with a licensed eye doctor right away. Left untreated, an eye infection could lead to a loss of sight.

If you are experiencing any of the symptoms above, or you would like to learn more about the colored prescription contact lenses available at McPherson Optometry in North Syracuse, New York, please call 315-458-1000. McPherson Optometry, 105 North Main Street, North Syracuse, New York.