Accept only wrapped candy trick-or-treating. Stick with friends in well-lit areas close to home. Don’t enter any houses going door to door. You’ve covered the precautions with your older kids as a responsible parent. As a grown child at heart who also loves Halloween, you smile that it’s your turn now to get into your disguise. Transforming this year to a first-of-its-kind werewolf who passes out candy, you’ve perfected your costume with a pair of yellow contact lenses you found online. Not so fast.
Every Halloween Americans unleash their creativity in scheming wildly accessorized costumes. To guide Halloween enthusiasts through preserving eye health when dressing up and attending festivities surrounding this big holiday, the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) has designated October as Halloween Eye Safety Month. The AAO offers adults and youth alike several key tips to assist in preserving and keeping one’s eyes safe and healthy for Halloween:
- Non-prescription, costume contact lenses are highly dangerous. As noted on the AAO’s Eye Health webpages — it’s illegal to sell any contact lenses without a prescription in the United States. Novelty lenses can cause serious bacterial eye infections. Advanced infections caused by cheap costume lenses can cause corneal ulcers, which may necessitate corneal transplants to restore vision from scarring. In the most extreme cases, delayed intervention and treatment for severe eye bacterial infections can lead to irreversible blindness.
- If you’re determined to enhance your Halloween costume with colored contact lenses, visit an eye specialist for a proper fitting of single-vision colored prescription lenses, which correct vision at only one viewing distance. Eye specialists foremost encourage individuals to direct costume planning away from getting fitted for colored prescription lenses just for Halloween.
- Use dermatologist-tested eye make-up. It’s not worth compromising your eye health with low-quality or unsafe costume make-up. Eye specialists offer several tips to guide Halloween partakers through purchasing and applying eye make-up.
- Read cosmetics product labels for precautions related to infection, and avoid products that contain untested or harsh chemicals.
- Infection-causing bacteria grow easily in creamy or liquid eye makeup. Before applying thin or thick liquid makeup, be sure your face, eyelids and hands applying make-up are very clean. Additionally, ensure are your application tools are clean. Regularly clean make-up application brushes and sponges.
- Avoid sharing eye any make-up products with others. Infectious bacteria in make-up spreads very easily, leading to infections such as pink eye.
- Throw away eye make-up after three months and buy new cosmetics to reduce the risk of infection. Purchase eye make-up directly from a reputable aesthetician, medical spa, pharmacy or retail store selling health/beauty products.
- Avoid over-the-counter eyelash extensions. Self-applied eyelash extensions purchased over-the-counter carry an increased risk of eye infection. To safely accessorize your Halloween costume with eyelash extensions, visit an experienced aesthetician. Ask your aesthetician to test for lash-glue allergies before proceeding with application.
Responsible Halloween enthusiasts both young and old(er) should have their fun on this beloved October holiday, but take heed and follow safety guidelines to protect one’s eyes. Steer of novelty contact lenses when accessorizing your costume. Turn to the professionals for prescription lens fittings and eyelash applications. Don’t risk infection in applying questionable cosmetics to eyelids and other facial areas. Practice social distancing and (non-costume) masking where needed. And most importantly — Have a safe and happy Halloween this October!
@AcademyEyeSmart #HalloweenEyeSafetyMonth
