Want to look like a lizard? You can. Like Satan? You can. Bizarre Halloween contacts are cheap and popular. You don't need a prescription, but you can end up with cornea injuries and infections, like one of Dr. Rahul Pandit's young patients.
"It will leave her with permanent vision loss in that eye. She's going to need for transplantation to improve her vision. She doesn't have insurance. It's a sad case for just one day of enjoyment," said Dr. Pandit, an ophthalmologist at Houston Methodist Hospital.
How can you tell the safe contacts from the novelty ones? The green contact lens was bought from an eye doctor, but the hazel one came from a costume shop.
Just by looking, even eye doctors have a hard time telling the difference. But if you wear the novelty shop lens just one night, you can get a scratch on your cornea that can lead to vision loss.
There's no such thing as one-size-fits-all in contact lenses, so if a retailer will sell you contacts without a prescription that includes the measurements of your eyes, buyer beware.
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