An optometrist or ophthalmologist takes preventative measures to avoid the complications that contacts may cause, by evaluating your eye to be sure that lenses are not aggravating existing problems. They fit lenses specific to your eye, and instruct you in proper handling and sterilization. Doctors also continue to monitor patients on a regular basis to prevent future problems.
Cosmetic contact lenses are highly available to the general public; one can find unregulated lenses readily available in locations like novelty stores, websites, and beauty salons. These unregulated lenses, however, mean that users probably do not even know the manufacturer of lenses. Furthermore, there are no assurances that these products are being manufactured using safe, approved materials under sanitary conditions.
Dr. H. Dwight Cavanagh, vice chairman of ophthalmology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas cautions that "By purchasing contact lenses over-the-counter, you would abrogate every single safety guarantee in place." He added that tinted lenses are available in professional offices, even in non-vision-correcting lenses.
Dr. Cavanagh advises, "Letting an underage member of the family use these lenses without supervision is like giving them the car keys without a license and without an adult in the front seat."
