Artificially colored contacts prove damaging to eyes

NORMAL, Ill. – For students looking to put the finishing touches on their Halloween costumes with eyewear, beware of certain types of colored contact lenses, particularly those not requiring a prescription. \nIn several cases, mostly involving teenagers, serious issues have developed because of the use of cheaply made colored contacts. \n“Colored lenses purchased without proper examinations and fittings put thousands of Illinois customers at risk of scratches, infections and potential blindness,” said Dean Martinez, spokesman for the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.\nBecause of all the ongoing problems, Illinois has been cracking down on the manufacturing and sale of these potentially dangerous contact lenses, including cease-and-desist demands to many of the sellers in or around the Chicago, Rockford and Peoria areas. \n“Many people who purchase these contact lenses just walk into a gas station or a flea market and pay $15 for a pair without any information on the proper use of the lenses,” said Troy Hunt, a contact lens technician at the Bloomington (Ill.) Gailey Eye Clinic. One of the major issues in using these contacts is the fact that many pairs do not fit correctly. \n“As is the case with many illegal colored contacts, they end up not fitting your eye and put an extreme amount of pressure on your cornea, which can cause corneal ulcers,” Hunt said. “This is the major reason we have seen these color contacts causing so many issues,” Hunt said. \nIf corneal ulcers, which are essentially caused by scratches from the contacts, go untreated, they could cause partial or possibly irreversible blindness. \nDue to so many reports of injuries, a federal law was established in 2005 that prohibited the sale of decorative contacts without a prescription. \nDespite this law, many doctors are reporting an increasing number of patients are landing in their offices. \n“In the past, most illegal colored contact lenses were purchased just around Halloween season,” Hunt said. “Now more people are becoming fascinated with the idea of changing their eye color day in and day out, so the contacts are being worn throughout the year.”