Keep Your Eyes Safe This Spooky Season

Don’t let an eye infection be the scariest part of your Halloween!

(Honolulu, Hawaii), October 11, 2022– Every year during the Halloween season, thousands of people end up in the emergency room, many due to sustained eye injuries and infections from their costume accessories. That is why the month of October is dedicated to the awareness of Halloween Eye Safety. To do our part, we want to share some tips that will help you avoid a real-life nightmare and stay safe this spooky season:

Costume Selection:
Costume planning is for many the best and most elaborate part of their Halloween, but especially for children, it may sometimes become dangerous. An easy and effective way to prevent eye injuries when planning your look this year, is to stay away from clothing or props with sharp edges that could easily pierce an eye. Another great idea for costume planning this year, is if you wear prescription lenses, find a way to incorporate it into your costume! You would be surprised how many of your favorite movie or TV series characters are fellow glasses wearers. We also suggest ditching eye coverings as it could impede your vision and limit your range of sight. If you are trick-or treating at night, it is suggested to incorporate brighter colors or LED strips on your costume or footwear allowing you to be more conspicuous to drivers.

Decorative Contact Lenses:
One of the most widespread Halloween costume accessories is the infamous decorative contact lenses. Though they may add another dimension to your look, they can also be highly dangerous to your eye health and eyesight, due to an increased risk of eye injuries, impaired vision, and eye infections, even causing blindness in many cases. It is imperative that if you are going to wear them, you purchase from the right sources, and be sure that they are prescription lenses only.

Decorative contact lenses are thicker, more rigid, and less breathable than regular contacts, which increases the risk of harm to your eyes and vision. Due to these added risks, it is illegal in the U.S. to sell unprescribed colored contact lenses. Unfortunately, many sellers still do, and many buyers don’t know the risks when purchasing. Eye injuries may arise from ill-fitting lenses that scrape the cornea, leading to corneal abrasion and scarring. The dye and printed pattern on these decorative lenses can also scratch your eye, by creating an uneven surface on the inner surface of the lenses.

Along with these eye injuries, there are also many infections that can occur when using unprescribed decorative contacts. Since these unprescribed contacts aren’t regulated by the FDA, oftentimes they are not sterile, causing bacteria or other microorganisms to get trapped underneath the contact lenses. This can cause sores called corneal ulcers and can lead to serious eye infections, such as keratitis. Manufacturers of un-prescribed decorative contacts may also use different chemicals to tint color-altering lenses. Some of these chemicals can be harmful and irritate or infect your eyes.

However, if prescribed, colored contact lenses are safe to use. First, it is crucial that you have an optometrist, or an ophthalmologist, check your eyes to make sure you’re a good candidate for contact lenses. Then, they will write you a prescription based on your eye measurements. Prescription for colored contacts lenses can be given to those that do not need vision correcting as well. Remember that contacts are not a one size fits all and having the right fitted lenses lowers your risk of eye injury or damage. Once you have gotten your prescription, it is important that you find a reputable source to buy your colored contact lenses from. Look to see if the contacts you are buying are FDA approved and only buy from vendors that require a prescription. Avoid buying from beauty shops, costume stores, and street vendors. Once you have found the perfect pair, to prevent any infections, make sure you are wearing, cleaning, storing, and disinfecting them properly, based on instructions given by your doctor.

Eye Makeup:
Another common cause of Halloween eye injuries and eye infections is eye makeup products. To avoid catastrophes this year when completing your Halloween makeup masterpiece, we recommend these tips:

• Wash off your makeup before going to bed
It is important that you wash your makeup off before going to sleep, or if it starts to irritate the skin. If left on for too long, eye makeup products can build up on your skin clogging the glands around your eyes and forming styes and other eye infections. This accumulation of makeup can also cause concretions, which are solid masses that form underneath the eyelids, and can lead to cornea erosion, eye pain and irritation, and if left untreated, may lead to blindness.

• Avoid or use caution when applying metallic, glittery, or flaky eye makeup
These products contain tiny specks of glitter, which can get in your tear film and irritate your eyes. In fact, glitter eye makeup is a common cause of corneal irritation and infection, especially for those who wear contact lens!

• Do not share eye makeup
As generous as it seems, you are actually putting your eye health and others at risk. Sharing eye makeup can lead to the spread of contagious eye infections such as conjunctivitis, pink eye, styes, staphs warts, and even eyelash lice! Eye makeup products are recommended for individual use ONLY!

• Do not use eye makeup older than three months
Products like mascara and eyeliner have a short life span and your skin, which is especially sensitive around the eyes, may react with the product’s ingredients after they reach their expiration date. After makeup expires, it will also begin to harbor bacteria (Especially if the container is not closed properly or left out). This bacterium can multiply rapidly, causing breakouts, irritation, and even serious eye infections.

• Check for harmful ingredients
When buying makeup, whether its eye makeup, skin makeup, costume makeup or face paint, it is always important to read the ingredients. Sadly, there is very little regulations for cosmetic ingredients in the U.S., with only 11 banned chemicals for makeup manufacturing in the states, compared to about 1,400 in Europe. These harmful chemicals can lead to symptoms like red, scaly eyelids, blood-shot eyes, or even dry eye disease, and serious long-term health conditions. A few of these chemicals to beware of are: Carbon Black, BAK, Parabens, Aluminum Powder, Retinyl acetate or retinyl palmitate, Formaldehyde and formaldehyde-releasing preservatives. Never assume a makeup product is safe because of the brand name, location of purchase, or price point (Expensive doesn’t always mean highest quality!).

Lash Extensions:
We understand the convenience of not dealing with pesky strip lashes, and being ready for the Halloween festivities with no effort needed. However, we want to make sure you’re not taking any scary risks with your lash extensions. Most Importantly, we recommend that you go to an experienced and reputable aesthetician to reduce the risk of infection or eye injury. It’s not worth the discomfort for a cheap price!

Second, we recommend that you test for any lash-glue allergies beforehand, as it can trigger contact dermatitis. We suggest putting a small amount on your hand or arm and waiting at least 24-72 hours for any changes that may indicate an allergy, such as a rash or redness. Exposing the skin to an allergen will lead to a hypersensitive reaction, which if on or near the eyes, may cause stinging, watering, swelling, and itching of the eyes. Other symptoms of lash glue allergies can even include headaches and sore throats. Typically, allergies of lash glue are due to an ingredient called cyanoacrylate, so it may be helpful to ask your aesthetician about the glue they use and check the label for any allergens.

Finally, and most importantly, we advise that you are actively practicing proper hygiene. Many aestheticians will recommend that you do your best not to get your eyelash extensions wet. However, there are still ways to clean the skin around the eyes as well as the extensions without getting wet or damaged. If you do not want to touch your extensions while washing your face, you may use a Q-tip or cotton pad with a cleanser to gently clean around them and on the eyelid to eliminate built up dirt and dead skin. There are also many safe eyelash extension cleaners specialized to clean the lashes from buildup and debris without ripping them or loosening the glue.

As we creep closer to the big day, we hope all of these tips will provide support when costume planning and help to prevent any infections, injuries, or vision loss! From the entire Hawaiian Eye Center Ohana, we hope everyone has a fang-tastic Halloween!