Here’s Why Wearing Spooky Contact Lenses This Halloween Is A Shit Idea

It’s officially HALLOWEEN this Monday, so there’s a fair chance you’ll be celebrating this weekend.

Perhaps you’ll go trick-or-treating. Maybe you’ll carve a lantern out of a pumpkin. We here at PEDESTRIAN.TV are actually throwing a big fuck-off party, so we might even see you there.
Halloween is a fantastic opportunity to shake off your 9-to-5 persona and dress the hell up. It’s an opportunity to get your cans out without being judged. A chance to let your freak flag fly. For the unhinged among us, it’s a nice time to exercise those homicidal urges in a just joking way. 
The most spooky thing about this candy-fuelled American holiday, though, isn’t ghosts and ghouls. 
It’s contact lenses.
Yep, if you’re a die-hard dress up fan, you may very well have used a pair of decorative contact lenses in your life.
According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO), many lenses bought online may not be approved by the Food and Drug Administration (and while the FDA is a US governing health body, we’ve got the same things for eyes Down Under so it applied to us, too).
A recent study pubbed in the aptly-named Eye & Contact Lens journal outlined that non-prescription contact lenses can contain chlorine and iron, among other things, which are used as a tint and colour of the crazy lenses. You know, the kind of things you want absolutely nowhere near your precious eyeballs.
Scientists found that one pair they tested seeped chlorine after a routine rinse; another pair had uneven texture that could easily scratch the surface of the wearer’s delicate eyes. 

“Halloween contact lenses can really enhance the effect of a great Halloween costume, and they can be a lot of fun,” Jeffrey J. Walline, O.D., Ph.D., the associate dean for research at The Ohio State University College of Optometry, told American publication SELF. 
“However, even Halloween contact lenses that do not correct your vision are medical devices and must be fit by an eye care practitioner.”

Let’s be honest – there’s a slim chance you’re gonna take your shoddy $20 lenses to Specsavers the day before the party.
What’s worse, if you’re celebrating with some happy juice this weekend, there’s a fair chance you’ll cark it on the couch with the lenses still in your eyes. Waking up with last night’s costume swimming around in your dry eye sockets isn’t optimal. 
Most costume lenses are marketed at ‘one-size-fits-all’ too, which can lead to issues as everyone has different sizes eyes. “If contact lenses do not fit properly, they can lead to irritated eyes at best and an eye infection at worst,” Walline says.
Of course, not every wearer will experience problems. You may be fine. It’s worth keeping in mind that you should treat this integral part of your costume as you could prescribed contact lenses – store them in the correct solution, rinse ’em after use and don’t sleep in them.
Good luck and happy halloween, freaks!

Source: SELF.
Photo: X-Men.

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