Let’s start this article by stating that colored contacts are as safe as regular ones, provided they are bought with a prescription and from a regulated brand. So the question are colored contacts safe has only one answer: They are safe provided you consider them the same as prescription contact lenses, and they are unsafe if you buy them without a prescription and without knowing where or how they were produced. Colored contacts are not an accessory, they are a medical product and need to be treated as such.
The Truth Behind Safe Contacts
There are very few differences between the lenses used to correct vision defects and those used to for cosmetic reasons, but generally speaking fashion contact lenses are seen as less safe than their corrective counterparts. This belief often stems from the fact that while corrective contacts are only sold with a prescription, colored ones are often available to the general public online without any sort of medical supervision.
Corrective contact lenses are thus “safe” because there’s medical supervision and very few people would buy them from a cheap, offshore provider as they see them as a medical product. Colored contacts, on the other hand, are often seen as just a fashion statement.
Why You Need a Prescription
Getting a prescription before buying colored contact lenses is not just a formality. Your optician will be able to assess if you can use contact lenses, as some people eye’s would react badly to them and contact lenses can worsen existing eye conditions such as dry eye syndrome.
He will also be able to take measurements of your eye that ensure the best possible fit, and last but not least you will get trained on how to put them on your eye, remove them safely and all the maintenance procedures.
Most opticians will also let you test contacts for a few hours over a few days, to make sure no side effects happen with prolonged use. This procedure is key for using contact lenses safely, but many people skip it when buying non corrective colored contacts and that makes them appear less safe.
What Can Make Colored Contacts Really Unsafe
Colored contact lenses are not just a fashion accessory, but a medical product that can cause serious eye problems if not used properly. This means producing colored contacts is a relatively expensive process that needs to be approved by the health authorities of each country, more similar to manufacturing a health supplement or a cosmetic cream than a fashion accessory.
As a consequence, if you are buying cheap contact lenses without a prescription and without knowing where they were made and to which standards, you risk putting in your eyes harmful substances or bacteria. If the type of plastic used is not of a high enough quality, the lenses will soon become dry and uncomfortable, and can cause enough irritation as to create small wounds in the cornea.
The key to making cool contact lenses safe is being careful to buy from a well-known retailer that only sells contacts regulated as a health product, and making sure to visit your optician first to get the right prescription. Once you have a prescription for contacts, you can use it to buy many different ones, but that first visit will ensure your eyes adapt to the contacts safely. You can then buy cheap contact lenses online safely provided you identify brands that are regulated by organisms such as the FDA in the United States, or the MHRA in the UK.