Entrusting your child’s medical care by coming to our Pediatric Alliance offices is something that all of us here honor and appreciate. It’s not just the doctors — the ones who spend the most time with you and your children at these visits — who understand this. We have an incredible team of people who work behind the scenes to make your whole experience at Pediatric Alliance exceptional– from those who schedule office visits (you can do this through our patient portal now at most offices currently); those who make it easy to access the patient portal for vital information at home or while you’re mobile (I’d argue that our IT department is light-years ahead of any comparable medical group); those who work with you and insurance companies to ensure proper billing and reimbursements, (a harder task than it sounds, unfortuntately!) or work with third-parties get those children with special health care needs and their families the help and support they need; those who make sure that our physicians are constantly monitoring the relevance, efficacy, and safety of the care we deliver to your children; and those who do their very best to keep your kids comfortable when provide sometimes scary or uncomfortable services (like when our medical assistants and nurses measure a head circumference, or give a vaccine).
As proud as I am of our staff at Pediatric Alliance, that is not at all the point of this PediaBlog post! Our Director of Clincal Operations, Lisa Cerra, shot me an email while she was Halloween shopping with her kids:
I was just at the store and two of the clerks had decorative lenses (looked creepy to me). Anyway then I came across this article the same day and thought it might be timely for the blog with Halloween coming.
Perfect timing, indeed! Trisha Korioth writes in AAP News:
Teens may be anxious to buy decorative contact lenses to make a fashion statement or as a Halloween costume accessory. But they may not realize they need a prescription and must be fitted by an eye care professional.
When 14-year-old Robyn and her friends saw decorative contact lenses for sale at a convenience store, they thought they would be a fun way to change their looks. Unfortunately, Robyn ended up with a serious eye infection. When her eye healed, the scar left her partially blind. She had to have surgery on her eye to be able to see again.
Korioth goes on:
Actors and musicians with decorative contact lenses are everywhere, it seems. From Lady Gaga to Twilight, changing the look of their eyes with decorative contact lenses is the latest craze. As Halloween nears, costume shops begin to sell the contacts, too. There are plenty of styles to choose from: colored lenses, shapes, spirals, even white. But most people do not know that these lenses are not legal. They have dye in them that can cause problems. One size does not fit everyone. This can stop air from getting to the eye, and trap germs underneath.
So if your kids are considering using decorative contact lenses for Halloween or other occassions, have them see an eye care professional first. Halloween can be scary enough!
Thanks Lisa!