With Christmas just around the corner, you may be thinking of brightening up your looks with a pair of cosmetic contact lenses for the holiday season parties.
But consumers are cautioned that they risk eye injuries, or even blindness if they wear these decorative lenses without the prescriptions or advice from eye-care professionals.
Such hazards are further multiplied when these decorative lenses are widely available on the Internet and in non-optical shops where consumers can easily get these lenses without undergoing any eye check by an ophthalmologist or a qualified registered optometrist. Some consumers merely take these lenses as a fashion accessory for changing the colour or appearance of the iris.
Complaints received by the Consumer Council may help offer a glimpse of the potential dangers faced by consumers.
In one case, a consumer discovered that there was a discrepancy in the water content of coloured lenses which she purchased on an auction website. Instead of the 42% being claimed on the website, the product label indicated that the lenses only contained 38% of water content. And when she tried to put on the lenses, she found defect in one of them. She later requested the seller for a replacement but to no avail.
In another case, a consumer trying out cosmetic lenses at a retail store found that the lenses were not discarded or cleansed after trial, but were simply put back for further trial by other customers. She further alleged that the fitting of the lenses was not done in the presence of an optometrist. Her eyes soon experienced redness after the tryout.
On the same occasion, a friend of this consumer bought from the shop a pair of coloured contact lenses, but she soon felt acute dryness and discomfort in the eyes after wearing the lenses for 4 to 5 hours. When she removed the lenses, she found a clear circular mark was left on the eye balls.
In view of the health hazards posed to consumers where the selling of decorative contact lenses goes unregulated, the Council supports the government's recent proposal to incorporate the product within the regulatory framework of medical devices, under which the devices must be registered with the Department of Health before they can be sold in the market.
Meanwhile, the Customs and Excise Department has stepped up efforts in monitoring the sale of non-corrective contact lenses in retail outlets, where vendors are asked to remind consumers of safety issues involved in using the products. They should also attach to the products labels in Chinese and English to alert consumers that the product should be used under the guidance of eye-care professionals, and that improper use and wear of the product may cause permanent vision damage or even blindness.
Whatever the type of contact lenses - be it contact lens with or without the function of correcting vision, consumers are advised to undergo a thorough eye examination by an ophthalmologist or a qualified registered optometrist and follow their recommendations and prescriptions for proper use of contact lenses.
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