{"id":26362,"date":"2018-02-27T17:49:15","date_gmt":"2018-02-27T17:49:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jomec.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/?p=26362"},"modified":"2018-02-27T17:49:15","modified_gmt":"2018-02-27T17:49:15","slug":"spooky-contact-lenses-sale-despite-blindness-risk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2018\/02\/27\/spooky-contact-lenses-sale-despite-blindness-risk\/","title":{"rendered":"Spooky contact lenses on sale despite blindness risk"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">SHOPS are still selling fancy dress contact lenses in Cardiff, even though they can cause serious eye injuries. <\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The lenses change the colour or appearance of eyes for Halloween or parties but if they are not used properly they can cause corneal ulcers, infections and even blindness.<\/span><br \/>\n<figure id=\"attachment_26400\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-26400\" style=\"width: 620px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-26400\" src=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2018\/02\/contacts.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"620\" height=\"465\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2018\/02\/contacts.jpg 620w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2018\/02\/contacts-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2018\/02\/contacts-500x375.jpg 500w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2018\/02\/contacts-293x220.jpg 293w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-26400\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-26400\" src=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2018\/02\/contacts.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"620\" height=\"465\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2018\/02\/contacts.jpg 620w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2018\/02\/contacts-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2018\/02\/contacts-500x375.jpg 500w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2018\/02\/contacts-293x220.jpg 293w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/noscript> A person wearing coloured cosmetic lenses<\/figcaption><\/figure><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Although they are non-prescription, cosmetic lenses should be bought from a registered optometrist, optician, or doctor.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">During September and October 2017, safety inspectors working for Cardiff council inspected 22 shops and gave advice from the General Optical Council. <\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Three of those shops were found to be still selling the contacts after a series of test purchases. <\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Without adequate instruction on storage, hygiene, and handling, cosmetic lenses could cause corneal ulcers and infections. <\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Corneal ulcers can get worse very quickly. Uncontrolled infection can lead to corneal scarring and impaired vision, and in extreme cases even blindness and eye loss. Other risks are conjunctivitis, allergic reactions and scratches.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In 2015 a consumer who bought lenses for Halloween in Cardiff had to spend \u00a0&#8220;a considerable time&#8221; in hospital.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">As a result, the Shared Regulatory Service is going to warn retailers, colleges and sixth forms before Halloween this year.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jacqueline Hotchkiss, commercial services team manager for trading standards, told the SRS joint committee on Tuesday: &#8220;<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">We have a view of rolling out a survey across Wales this year.\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">And we will work with emergency departments to report problems to trading standards.\u201d <\/span><br \/>\nThe SRS works across Cardiff, the Vale of Glamorgan, and Bridgend, inspecting environmental health and trading standards.<br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Dave Holland, head of SRS, said: \u201cThere could be hundreds of people who have not reported this issue so the more pictures of eye damage we can show, the better.\u201d<\/span><br \/>\nThe risk of infection is very low if buying professionally fitted cosmetic contacts and caring for them properly. But the lenses can also be bought cheaply online without any health warning or proper instructions.<br \/>\nThe Specsavers website says: \u201cWe would strongly advise against wearing cheap contact lenses from the Internet and without a proper prescription, especially if you have never worn contacts before.\u201d<\/p>\n<h5><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">What\u2019s the difference between an optometrist and an optician?<\/span><\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">An optometrist tests your eyes and can write prescriptions for glasses and lenses. <\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">A dispensing optician will help you fit glasses or lenses from the prescription. <\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">An ophthalmic medical practitioner, is a doctor who specialises in eye conditions. <\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SHOPS are still selling fancy dress contact lenses in Cardiff, even though they can cause serious eye injuries. The lenses change the colour or appearance of eyes for Halloween or parties but if they are not used properly they can cause corneal ulcers, infections and even blindness. Although they are non-prescription, cosmetic lenses should be bought from a registered optometrist, optician, or doctor. During September and October 2017, safety inspectors working for Cardiff council inspected 22 shops and gave advice [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":148,"featured_media":26400,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[5739,5740,4978,13],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-26362","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-contact-lenses","tag-contacts","tag-halloween","tag-health"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Spooky contact lenses on sale despite blindness risk - The Cardiffian<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2018\/02\/27\/spooky-contact-lenses-sale-despite-blindness-risk\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Spooky contact lenses on sale despite blindness risk - The Cardiffian\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"SHOPS are still selling fancy dress contact lenses in Cardiff, even though they can cause serious eye injuries. The lenses change the colour or appearance of eyes for Halloween or parties but if they are not used properly they can cause corneal ulcers, infections and even blindness. Although they are non-prescription, cosmetic lenses should be bought from a registered optometrist, optician, or doctor. 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