With Halloween fast approaching, we wanted to take some time to give you some insight into costume contact lenses, just in case you were thinking of adding them to finish off the perfect Halloween costume!

What are Costume Lenses?

Let’s start with the basics. Costume lenses are contact lenses that are only used for superficial reasons. There is no medical reason to have these contact lenses. The typical use is to change the color of your eyes, but they also make specific ones that go with a certain character you may dress up as for Halloween or for another reason.

Examples of costume lenes include:

  • Black out contacts
  • Cat eyes
  • Zombie eyes

How to know if costume lenses are safe:

There are many retailers who sell costume lenses that do not require a prescription, but we want to make sure you understand the risk that comes with using those lenses. It may seem easy to just pick them up where you buy your costume, but you could suffer the consequences later. The FDA warns against buying costume lenses from:

  • Halloween stores
  • The internet if no prescription is required
  • Beauty supply stores
  • Street vendors
  • Beach shops
  • Convenience stores
  • Boutiques
  • Beach Shops

If you do acquire these lenses without a prescription, there are a couple of risks. Without getting an eye exam, the generic lenses you buy could fit poorly and cause cuts and scratches on your eye that could get infected. Another downside of poor-fitting lenses is that it can restrict oxygen to the eye which doesn’t let your eye breathe. This in turn can cause abrasions, ulcers and bacterial infections on your eye.

What should you do?

The best way to get costume lenses would be to make an eye exam appointment and get fitted for them. An eye doctor will be able to make sure  you get lenses that fit properly. Once you have an exam an eye doctor will give you a prescription for the exact right size lenses you need.

If you think costume lenses might be something you want to add to your costume this year, give us a call so we can make sure to get you in the right ones!

Everyone have a safe and happy Halloween!