My daughter is totally into Anime and Manga characters, so I’m going to pass this through to my readers… Please share this with those you know with tweens or teens.
Postscript: Apparently these lenses are now making their way into the child pageant circuit. Unbelievable!!!
FDA issues warning about decorative contact lenses
Silver Spring, MD – People who use decorative contact lenses as part of their Halloween costumes should consider risks such as an eye infection, cornea damage, vision loss and blindness, according to a consumer update released Oct. 12 by the Food and Drug Administration.
Classified as medical devices, decorative lenses must be specially designed and fitted to a patient’s eyes and are not “one size fits all,” according to FDA. The agency warns consumers to be wary of vendors that do not require a prescription or provide thorough instruction for the lenses.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H45GYPAuTdg]
FDA recommends the following for people wearing decorative lenses this Halloween season:
- Schedule an appointment with a licensed eye doctor, who can properly measure your eyes and provide a valid prescription.
- Follow up with a doctor if you experience redness, pain or a decrease in vision.
- Practice proper usage and storage instructions.
- FDA also warns consumers about anime-inspired lenses, which typically are larger than normal contact lenses and not FDA-approved.
wouldn’t it make more sense for the title to be talking about ‘colored contacts’ overall? just like in the video, it applies to western fantasy like monsters/aliens, not just japanese anime (plus one would normally start with hair coloring/wigs first)
also funny thing is i grew up in lexington…
oh & i got here looking for keratoconus info, not anime, funny coincidence
Hi and thanks for your comment. No, I don’t think it applies to colored contacts because most of those are dispensed from an optometrist-approved place. You could be right on monsters/aliens, but the majority of ads I’ve seen are related to cons/mini-cons for Anime. My daughter does cosplay a lot and this is how I got familiar.
I am an eye doctor and I am so frustrated with colored contacts. They are harmful to the eye if worn for too many hours. They allow zero oxygen to the cornea…that is the clear dome on the front of the eye that is clear for a reason…so you can see through it. When there is a lack of oxygen (i.e. from wearing these horrible lenses), new blood vessels start to grow because it is STARVING for oxygen. Also, cells on the inside layer of the cornea DIE…permanently. They do not regenerate. This is permanent damage. Do NOT wear colored contacts without seeing an eye doctor and please do not wear them for extended hours (8-10 hours max). I can not tell you how upset I get…this week once again I saw a patient that has permanent damage to their eyes. Why? To change your eye color…please…so stupid!!! It looks bad anyway.
My kids saw the employees of a Halloween costume store wearing these and just fell in love with them. If they’d not seen me go through my KC turmoil, they’d probably have been tempted. The FDA needs to NIX these things as they look incredibly cool, but have so little oversight.