Warning For Consumers: Popular Halloween Eye Wear Accessory Can Permanently Damage Eyes

Main Category: Eye Health / Blindness
Article Date: 09 Oct 2007 - 12:00 PDT

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The American Optometric Association (AOA) is warning consumers about the risks of wearing decorative contact lenses without a prescription. These non-corrective lenses are easily accessible to consumers and are especially popular around Halloween.

Decorative lenses are marketed and distributed directly to consumers through a variety of sources including flea markets, the Internet, beauty salons and convenience stores. Consumers often find them at retail outlets where they are sold as fashion accessories.

"Buying contact lenses without a prescription involves serious health care risks because sellers may not be contact lens specialists," said Louise Sclafani, O.D., chair of the AOA Contact Lens and Cornea Section. "After purchasing the decorative lenses, consumers often receive no formal education and instruction, which puts the responsibility to learn proper cleaning and disinfecting, as well as removal and application, on the consumer."

People who buy and wear contact lenses without medical guidance and a valid prescription put themselves at risk for ocular inflammation, bacterial infection or mechanical damage to the eye, with the potential of irreversible loss of sight. A proper medical evaluation can determine whether or not patients are viable candidates to wear contact lenses and if they are capable of wearing contact lenses without problems.

"While consumer education is important, it is equally imperative to ensure that only people who are instructed in the proper use of contacts are able to sell them," said Dr. Sclafani.

Federal law requires the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to regulate decorative lenses as a medical device, similar to corrective lenses, making it illegal to dispense the lenses without a prescription.

"Consumers and retailers should understand that decorative lenses, like the contact lenses intended for correcting vision, present serious risks to eye health if they are distributed without the appropriate involvement of a qualified eye care professional," added Dr. Sclafani.

Other risks associated with use of decorative contact lenses include conjunctivitis, swelling, allergic reaction and corneal abrasion due to poor lens fit. Other problems may include reduction in visual acuity (sight), contrast sensitivity and other general eye and vision impairments.

About the American Optometric Association (AOA)

The American Optometric Association represents more than 34,000 doctors of optometry, optometry students and paraoptometric assistants and technicians. Optometrists serve patients in nearly 6,500 communities across the country, and in 3,500 of those communities are the only eye doctors.

American Optometric Association doctors of optometry are highly qualified, trained doctors on the frontline of eye and vision care who examine, diagnose, treat and manage diseases and disorders of the eye. In addition to providing eye and vision care, optometrists play a major role in a patient's overall health and well-being by detecting systemic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension. Doctors of optometry have the skills and training to provide more than two-thirds of all primary eye care in the United States.

Prior to optometry school, optometrists undergo three to four years of undergraduate study that typically culminates in a Bachelor of Science degree in a field such as biology or chemistry. Optometry school consists of four years of post-graduate, doctoral study concentrating on both the eye and systemic health. In addition to their formal training, doctors of optometry must undergo annual continuing education to stay current on the latest standards of care.

American Optometric Association