Spooky Halloween Contacts Can Harm Eyes if Not Handled Properly

HOUSTON (Oct. 7, 2008) – Are you a devil in disguise? Or perhaps a tiger on the prowl? Whatever your Halloween costume choice is, there are those who want to go out all the way – even as far as getting costume contacts that turn their eyes red or can black out the entire eye.

While costume contacts may finish your look, they can cause problems if not handled properly.

“All contact lenses are medical devices. Cosmetic contact lenses, just like clear ones, come in a variety of colors, sizes, curvatures and prescriptions,” said Dr. Reza Farahani, optometrist at the Harris County Hospital District's Acres Home Health Center. “Therefore, a person who is interested in wearing them should be properly evaluated and fitted by their eye doctor.”

Sure you may have candy shopping, gremlin catching and witch finessing to do for your Halloween extravaganza, but taking time to schedule an eye appointment to complete your Halloween look with cosmetic lenses could save you some serious eye pain.

“Improperly fit contact lenses (cosmetic or clear) can render a person's eyes – specifically the cornea – more susceptible to the lack of oxygen, swelling, scratches, the growth of abnormal blood vessels, among other threats,” Farahani said.

All of these consequences would make the eyes more prone to infections such as pink eye and corneal ulcer, which is a serious and possibly sight threatening infection of the front part of the eye.

But if your thought is, “I'll just borrow Mikey's contacts from last year.” Think again.

“Contact lenses rest on a person's cornea and eye lids. The lenses are bathed with a person's tear fluid and can act as a reservoir for what is in that person's eye,” Farahani said. “So if two people decide to exchange worn contacts, in reality, they are exchanging bodily fluids and its contents.”

Therefore if the owner of the lenses has an eye infection, the organism can be transported via the contact lens to the other individual.

Furthermore, contacts are custom tailored to each individual's eyes. What may fit perfectly for one person, may end up being a poor fit for another and could cause a serious infection.

So while spooky Halloween contacts can benefit your costume needs, be sure to visit your eye doctor for proper fit to avoid serious eye complications.

The Harris County Hospital District is the public health care system for the nation's third most-populous county. It provides more than one million health care visits each year to residents of Harris County. The hospital district operates Ben Taub General Hospital, Lyndon B. Johnson General Hospital, Quentin Mease Community Hospital, 12 community health centers, a dental center, eight school-based clinics, 13 homeless shelter clinics and five mobile health units.