Consumers risk damaging their eyesight by buying lenses from online retailers selling one type of lens only, warns Optometry Australia.
Chief Clinical Officer Luke Arundel warned consumers against purchasing from online retailers who do not require them to validate their contact lens prescriptions.
“This one size fits all approach is concerning because one size and one type of contact lens material does not meet everyone’s eye health requirements,” he said.
Arundel said there were many eye health risks associated with websites allowing patients to swap their prescribed contact lenses for alternative products without undergoing a review to check lenses fit correctly and are made from appropriate material.
He added that materials influence wetting, comfort and physiological response, with hypersensitivity to a particular material potentially leading to giant papillary conjunctivitis.
