Colored contact lenses come with concerns this Halloween

October 31, 2022

SPOKANE, Wash. — Halloween is on Monday, and a local eye doctor says people should be careful wearing decorative or costume-colored contact lenses for their look.

Dr. Matthew Weed, a local ophthalmologist,  says buying these colored contact lenses and wearing them without prescriptions is not worth risking your eyes.

Wearing costumes is one of the main parts that comes with celebrating Halloween, and a local Halloween costume store owner says there are a lot of people looking for these contacts.

“We are starting to get calls multiple times a day from people asking if we carry contact lenses,” Craig Walter, owner of Halloween Express, said.

Weed says misuse of costume contact lenses without a prescription can turn into Halloween nightmares.

“Contact lenses that are sold without prescriptions haven’t been fit to the surface of patients’ eye, and because of that, they can cause painful eye injuries and sometimes like simple like scratches, other times it can be deeper and penetrating,” Weed said.

He said he’s seen patients go blind because of wearing unprescribed contact lenses.

“I personally have seen patients go blind and they have to have an eye surgically removed from their socket,” Weed said.

Weed says it’s illegal to sell contact lenses without having prescriptions for patients.

“If you are interested in getting colored contact lenses to change your look, I recommend you to talk with your licensed professionals either an ophthalmologist or optometrist,” Weed said. “They can talk to you about how to do that safely.”

 

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