A Washington woman is raising awareness this Halloween after she nearly went blind during her “nightmare” experience with contact lenses.
Licensed beautician Jordyn Oakland, 27, told PEOPLE that she ordered colored contact lenses for her “cannibal beautician” Halloween costume last year, which ended up putting her in the emergency room.
The contact lenses – which Oakland said she ordered “against my better judgment” due to scant information or reviews – were purchased from Dolls Kill, a fashion brand that sells colored contact lenses supplied by manufacturer Camden Passage .
Colored Contacts For Dark Eyes
Oakland said she developed a problem with the lens of her right eye when she tried to remove the contact lenses after wearing them for six hours.
“When I initially put them in, they did feel a little uncomfortable,” she recalled to People, noting that she usually wears prescription contacts and knows how to put them in properly.”When I initially tried to remove the contactor, it didn’t move very much. I re-gripped the contactor and when I took it out of my eye, it didn’t feel good.
After her eyes watered, Oakland decided to rinse her eyes and leave it alone.The next day, she said she woke up at 6am in “extreme pain” with her eyes completely swollen, which prompted her to go to the hospital.She revealed that before referring her to an ophthalmologist for treatment, she was told she “may lose her vision”.
“Clothing touchpoints don’t fit your eyes,” explains Oakland.”So basically it creates a bubble and sucks up to my cornea. So when I remove it, that’s why I feel like it’s kind of stuck because it’s actually sucked away the outer layer of my cornea. ”
The 27-year-old shared that her ophthalmologist – concerned about possible blindness, long-term damage or surgery – told her they receive a high number of similar cases involving clothing contact each October around Halloween.
“Miraclely, after two days, my eyes were recovering very well,” she said, noting that her doctor was surprised she was able to recover.”About the fourth or fifth day, I could finally start to subtly lift my lids on my own, and I’ve been wearing an eye patch for at least two weeks.”
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Oakland told PEOPLE that the events of Halloween 2020 left her with “horrible” vision and she’s still dealing with side effects a year later.She experienced long-term symptoms such as dry eyes, difficulty reading, and she was at risk of repeated corneal erosions – meaning she could experience the same again in the future.
“I have a lot of sensitive eyes right now, so it’s very light sensitive and my vision is different. I have to be careful about applying mascara because it also keeps watering.”
Camden Passage, the manufacturer of the contact lenses purchased in Oakland, told PEOPLE in a statement that they reported the incident to the FDA and have opened an investigation.
“The best advice my ophthalmologist gave me was that you could go to an ophthalmologist and have them customize creative Halloween-style contact lenses for you, then you can use them over and over again safely and they’ll fit your eyes,” she said. Say.
Oakland continued, “Go the extra mile and pay for a pair that you know is safe and won’t cause you any actual damage.”
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Colored Contacts For Dark Eyes
The FDA warns against buying contact lenses without a prescription from street vendors, beauty supply stores, flea markets, novelty stores, Halloween stores or unknown online dealers because they “may be contaminated and/or counterfeit.”
Regular and cosmetic contact lenses can be safely purchased from your ophthalmologist and other FDA-approved companies.The FDA states that anyone who sells you contact lenses must get your prescription and check with your doctor.
Anyone experiencing any side effects from wearing contact lenses should see a licensed ophthalmologist – an optometrist or ophthalmologist – immediately.
“I’m sharing because I just want people to know this can happen to you. We see these videos on TikTok of these big makeup artists approaching in these outfits and yes, they’re probably okay, but you can have one at a time Examples of sex, like me, can blind you,” Oakland added.
Post time: Jul-07-2022
