Cat lenses: It's all fun, until you can't see Nifty cat lenses could look great with your costume this Halloween. But ask yourself one question: Can you afford to lose your vision for eight weeks or so?
That is what happened to one woman, according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology.
The AAO reports that the West Virginia woman wore illegally made, colored lenses for 10 hours. The lens stuck like a suction cup to her eyeball. She required four weeks to recover from the pain associated with the damage to her cornea and infection. She could not see well enough to drive for eight weeks.
She now lives with a scar on her cornea, a drooping eyelid and vision damage — a bad trade for one night out.
Because of incidents like this, it is illegal to sell costume contact lenses without a prescription. But some unscrupulous vendors do exist.
No contact lenses are 'one size fits all.' Your eye must be measured and the proper lens prescribed, or you risk infection, vision damage and more.
Rick Good spent ten years in the newspaper business, including with The News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) and The Greenville News (Greenville, SC). He co-wrote, with Melinda Coleman, Rutledge to Riley: Governors of South Carolina, 1776–Present (Published by The Greenville News), and is the author of Mind Games Trivia #1 (Amazon). He has recently spent 15 years creating original trivia content through Sounds Good Mobile Entertainment and continues that with his new company, SGME Software. He edits The Smart Reader’s money, real estate, and business coverage.