Spooky season is upon us, and with it, an eye care providers’ opportunity to offer patients advice on prescription cosmetic contact lenses.

This is especially true if that optometrist is Ryan P. Edmonds, OD, of Edmonds & Associates, Drexel Hill, Pa. He says he sees a few dozen prescription cosmetic contact lens patients per year between haunted attractions and local theater groups.

Here, Dr. Edmonds, along with Elise Kramer, OD, FAAO, FSLS, FBCLA, of the Miami Contact Lens Institute, provide four practical tips for offering prescription cosmetic contact lens needs among patients this Halloween.

1. Let patients know you’re open for business

Dr. Kramer says her office sends out a newsletter every year to get patients thinking about their costumes and their eye care needs. Specifically, the newsletter highlights safe contact lens wear for Halloween and educates patients that they have a safe option for purchasing these lenses from their eye care provider. “And you also have the benefit of having a lens that fits properly and can also correct your vision, if needed,” she says.

2. Set aside time for instruction

Those patients expressing an interest in a prescription for cosmetic contact lenses may not be regular contact lens wearers, so their appointments would need to include contact lens wear instruction for cleaning, handling, inserting, and removing the contact lenses, says Dr. Kramer. Also, she also suggests discussing other aspects of the costume, such as long finger nails, makeup, and fake eyelashes, that may impact ocular hygiene. In general, though, she says she discusses the lenses first.

3. Address the biggest factors of adverse outcomes

Tell your patients that one of the biggest factors of adverse outcomes with cosmetic contact lens use comes from wearers not washing hands prior to inserting or removing the lenses, says Dr. Edmonds. Because of this, it’s worth reiterating its importance to patients, he says.

The second most significant factor in eliminating adverse visual outcomes is wear time. “Even on movie sets, the cosmetic lenses are only worn for shooting, they are not worn by the actors/actress overnight and care is taken to avoid using them for many hours in a row,” says Dr. Edmonds, due to the difference in materials used for the lenses. Cosmetic lenses are thicker and do not allow oxygen to pass through as efficiently as normal lenses, due to the paint used on them, which can result in localized inflammation and potential infection if left on for too long, and he makes sure to impart this to patients.

4. Use adverse reactions for education

Finally, if a patient presents with an adverse reaction to a cosmetic contact lens, Dr. Edmonds says he not only treats the patient but takes that opportunity to remind the patient about proper eye care.

An example of that patient script: “You’re getting a speeding ticket today. You knew you were doing something that might not be right. Similar to if you were speeding and you got caught, you could get in trouble. We’re going to take this contact lens out for a week, and use this medication that you’re going to have to put in your eye three times a day. But like speeding, if you keep doing it, you’re bound to get caught or have a crash or an accident. Continued use could cause severe vision loss. I don’t want to see you in my office for a car accident.” OM