Conjunctival rupture resulting from unsupervised sale of Halloween contact lenses – a case history.
An 18-year-old male patient of ours telephoned to report he had experienced bleeding of his left eye, pictured, after trying to remove Halloween contact lenses. He does not wear spectacles or contact lenses and had bought the lenses from a retail store in Bath which sells a variety of cosmetic and beauty products including fashion/cosmetic contact lenses.
At presentation his left eye exhibited a temporal subconjunctival haemorrhage, and on upward gaze a contusion in the inferior temporal bulbar conjunctiva was revealed. Fortunately his vision was unaffected and there was no corneal involvement. As he had reported bleeding from the eye it would appear he had managed to rupture the bulbar conjunctiva in his efforts to remove the lens. He described mild discomfort which was reducing and on this basis he was prescribed an unpreserved ocular lubricant to reduce the discomfort and told to report back if the symptoms worsened.
This case illustrates a typical example of ocular complication arising from unsupervised contact lens sales.