What are costume contact lenses?

Costume contact lenses – also known as cosmetic or decorative contact lenses – are any type of contact lenses that are meant to change the appearance of your eyes. They include colored contacts, fashion lenses and lenses that can make your eyes look like vampires, animals or other characters.

Websites often advertise colored contacts as if they were cosmetics, fashion accessories or toys. With whimsical packaging and names, their targets are often teens and young adults.

The truth: claims such as "one size fits all" and "no need to see an eye specialist" are misleading. Non-prescription contact lens sales are illegal.

See Video Julian's story How he lost one eye by wearing the wrong contact lenses. 

What's wrong with costume contact lenses?

Contact lenses should not be thought of as fashion accessories or makeup – they are medical devices that require a prescription from an eye care professional. The eyes are one of the most delicate and important parts of the body, so what you put in and on them must be medically safe and FDA-approved.

Many people buy these lenses to use as costume accessories to enhance their Halloween, and shops as well as online retailers actively market and advertise the lenses to innocent consumers unaware of the risks. These risks include dangerous infections that can lead to permanent vision loss and even require corneal transplants. This is why many ophthalmologists see a spike in patients coming to them with these types of injuries around Halloween.

What damage can costume contact lenses cause?

Non-prescription costume contacts can cause injuries such as cuts and open sores in the protective layer of the iris and pupil (corneal abrasions and corneal ulcers) and potentially blinding painful bacterial infections (keratitis). These injuries can require serious eye surgeries such as corneal transplants, and in some cases lead to permanent vision loss.

One study found that wearing costume contact lenses increased the risk for developing keratitis – a potentially blinding infection that causes an ulcer on the eye – by more than 16 times, compared to people who wear regular, corrective contacts. Unfortunately, 60 percent of patients who developed keratitis from wearing non-prescription costume contact lenses in this study suffered permanent vision loss.

Novelty products, like circle lenses, are not FDA-approved. Circle lenses can be particularly harmful, because the lens covers more of the eye than regular corrective lenses, which makes it very difficult for necessary oxygen to get through to the eye.

See Also: Contact Lens-Related Eye Infections

If you want your Halloween look to include cat, zombie or glow-in-the-dark eyes, or if you’d like to use lenses to change your eye color or appearance, get your costume contact lenses prescribed by an eye care professional. It’s crucial that your lenses fit properly, and your individual prescription can only be determined by an eye exam.

Skipping this step and buying lenses online or over the counter can set you up for serious eye problems, infections or even permanent vision loss.