5 Essential Eye Safety Tips for Halloween

Halloween is just around the corner, and with it, the chance to dress up and embrace your spooky side. Depending on the costume you choose, you may find yourself wearing eyewear or using cosmetics to enhance your fearsome look. However, whether you are dressing as a wicked werewolf, fearsome fairy, or spooky soldier, there is a chance that your chosen costume could prove harmful to your eyes. To help keep yours safe and your vision intact, here are our scarily good essential eye safety tips for Halloween.

 

1.    Only get contact lenses from licensed professionals

Contact lenses are a very popular addition to any Halloween costume, making it possible to completely change the appearance of your eyes. Whether it’s turning them completely white, turning them into cat eyes, or making them ghoulish blood red, poor quality contact lenses have the potential to leave you with a frighteningly bad infection or worse. Contact lenses are a medical device and should only ever be dispensed by a licensed professional – not bought from a store. Any that you buy online or in shops could be made anywhere, from any material, and this means you are putting your eyes at unnecessary risk. People who don’t take care of where their contacts are from have been known to experience pain, infection, swelling, corneal scratches, and blurred vision. If you want to wear contacts this Halloween, make sure you get them directly from a licensed professional.

 

2.    Don’t share your contact lenses

Another important thing to remember is to avoid sharing any contact lenses you do get anywhere else. Doing so increases the risk of spreading any harmful bacteria or microorganisms between you, meaning you could easily contract diseases like conjunctivitis. And remember that ‘fun’ contacts should be handled exactly the same way as functional lenses – by washing your hands before and after placing them, and always taking them out before you go to sleep at night!

 

3.    Take care with cosmetics

Face paint and makeup are great alternatives to wearing masks and other face-based accessories, but you must be careful when applying them. We recommend that you choose FDA-approved makeup and follow the instructions for application. Avoid getting glitter too close to your eyes as this can be abrasive if it comes into contact with the eyes or conjunctiva, and this could cause scratches that are painful, will take time to heal and could cause infection. False eyelashes and other accessories can also be very irritating and increase your risk of infection. Finally, remember to remove all eye makeup before you go to sleep so that you don’t accidentally spread it into your eyes.

 

4.    Be aware of your accessories

Many costumes come with accessories that act as finishing touches and bring them to life. However, many accessories have the potential to be hazardous to your eyes. Be mindful of any that have sharp corners that could accidentally poke you in the eye, such as pitchforks, broomsticks or fairy wands. And be careful that wigs and other head accessories don’t get into your eyes or block your vision and put you at risk of an accident. Masks are a great way to transform how you look, but they can also impair your vision and be a common cause of trips and falls!

 

5.    If you need to wear glasses or contacts, don’t go without

You may feel like glasses don’t go with your costume, but if you fail to wear your prescription eyewear, you could be in for a whole lot of trouble. It’s far better, and safer, to compromise and wear your glasses so that you can see clearly, than risk falling over, walking into something or someone, or even crashing your car. It’s not just you that could get hurt! Seeing clearly is essential and could stop a scary incident from happening!

For more Halloween eye safety tips, call Limestone Eyecare in Lawrence, Kansas at 785-268-6880 to speak with our eyecare specialists.