Eye care scares: optometrists warn against ‘Halloween’ contact lenses

Eye care professionals are warning the public of the potential eye health risks of purchasing contact lenses sold illegally online or from pop-up shops.

Moorfields Eye Hospital will be sharing messages on social media on safely purchasing and wearing contact lenses and has highlighted that cosmetic contact lenses, popular around the Halloween season, contribute to a seasonal increase in accident and emergency visits.

Optometry Ireland, meanwhile, is warning against a “concerning seasonal fashion” of purchasing ‘party’ contact lenses online or from pop-up shops for costumes.

By law, contact lenses should only be supplied under the supervision of a registered practitioner, Moorfields emphasised, sharing that unauthorised outlets “rarely provide adequate advice about how to wear and care for contact lenses safely.”

Badrul Hussain, consultant ophthalmic surgeon at Moorfields Eye Hospital, said: “Each year we treat patients, including children under 16, who have developed eye conditions after wearing cosmetic contact lenses. There can be an increase in these problems in the period around Halloween.”

“Some of the cases we see, like patients sharing lenses with friends, wearing the same pair year after year – well past the expiry date – and storing them in tap water, can have devastating effects,” he added.

The delicate cornea can be easily scratched by an inexperienced contact lens wearer, Hussain suggested, exposing the eye to infections which, “in extreme cases, can result in permanently impaired, or loss of, vision.”

The hospital emphasised that, when worn properly and with appropriate advice, cosmetic contact lenses pose little risk and Moorfields will be issuing advice for safe wear of contact lenses.

Some of the cases we see, like patients sharing lenses with friends, wearing the same pair year after year – well past the expiry date – and storing them in tap water, can have devastating effects

Optometry Ireland has also warned of the serious health risks of wearing ‘party’ cosmetic contact lenses sold illegally.

Explaining the issue, Tania Constable, president of Optometry Ireland, said: “Because of the materials cosmetic contact lenses are made from and the pigments which colour them, they are more difficult to clean and sterilise. This makes microbial adherence much stronger.”

“The second major risk is that the lenses are not fitted by a registered practitioner, so adherence to safe insertion and removal are often not practiced – resulting in a very high level of complications,” Constable added.

Optometry Ireland is advising the public not to purchase contact lenses supplied through websites or costume shops.

Constable added that evidence of shops supplying these lenses should be reported to the State health and social care regulator, CORU.

The AOP’s Know your lenses campaign highlights the issue of illegal supply in the UK and encourages the public to always visit an eye care professional for contact lenses. Find the resources on the AOP website.