By David Lewis
Do you always find yourself turning to social media when you need some quick advice? You’re not alone. Over 27% of Yorkshire residents—around 1.1 million people—do the same, especially when they’re looking for health and wellness tips.
Yet though social media platforms are undoubtedly a faster and more accessible way to get the advice you need, it’s not guaranteed that the content you learn from is trustworthy. In fact, you may end up seeing misinformation on various topics that can harm your health instead of helping it. You’re especially at risk if you want advice on selecting, procuring, and using high-maintenance medical devices like contact lenses.
Currently, around 4.1 million Brits wear them for their visual appeal and ease of use. Since they sit directly on the eyes, mishandling or misuse can significantly raise your chances of getting injuries or infections. However, that same visual appeal is what makes them a great topic for social media attention, with content creators either promoting or advocating against certain contacts and lens practices.
That said, what should you believe when looking at social media for contact lens advice?
Believe: in replacing your contacts
If you’ve heard that it’s okay to wear the same contact lenses for long periods without running into any issues, check out the story of TikTok user @catsupwithdoug. He once wore a single pair of contacts from 2012 to 2015 without ever taking them out—then suggested that viewers learn from that mistake. Wearing contacts for so long gave him permanent astigmatism, as well as buildup behind the eyelids that resulted in his eyes taking more than a year to heal.
This is one anecdote you’ll definitely want to learn from, as it’s the whole reason why contact lenses are marked for either daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly use. Over time, proteins and lipids will accumulate on your lenses, creating the perfect environment for bacteria to grow. Sleeping with contacts on also prevents oxygen from entering the eyes. These issues can eventually damage your corneas and potentially cause vision loss, making @catsupwithdoug one very lucky individual.
To prevent these outcomes yourself, it’s ideal to strictly adhere to the replacement frequency your contact lenses require. Since the above factors make reusable contact lens wearers four times more likely to get eye infections, however, you may particularly want to switch to dailies.
The popular Acuvue contact lenses show that its bestselling dailies come in boxes containing multiple pairs—if you buy them online, you can get discounts for bulk orders—which should make it easier to replace your contacts when needed. With variants like the Moist, Multifocal, and Astigmatism, it’ll also be easy to find lenses that best suit your vision needs.
Don’t believe: in all cosmetic contacts
Contact lenses are also used to alter the colour and appearance of the eyes. That makes them especially popular during specific times of the year, like Halloween. Such ‘cosmetic’ contacts are also frequently used to dress up or cosplay particular movie and TV characters, or emulate popular celebrities who also wear coloured lenses. Social media influencers and media personalities like Marnie Simpson are known for taking to particular platforms like Instagram to promote contact lenses for these purposes, with many accounts also selling coloured contacts on these websites without the need for an optometrist’s supervision.
However, not all cosmetic contacts are ideal to use. If not manufactured properly, the pigments used to give them colour may encourage bacterial growth. Buying cosmetic contacts straight from social media stores also means they won’t be fitted by an optometrist, and lenses that don’t account for your eyes’ unique measurements may scratch and potentially infect your eyes.
That said, it’s only reputable to buy your coloured or cosmetic contacts from reputable brands rather than small social media stores. Alcon’s coloured contacts are some of the most popular in the global contact lens market, with its AIR OPTIX COLORS line boasting both natural and gemstone-inspired hues that alter the eyes’ appearance to varying degrees. Since Alcon itself is a recognised pharmaceutical and medical device company, its contacts are ideal for casual experimentation and wear. Getting your own cosmetic lenses from reputable sources like this is ultimately better than buying into influencer contact lens endorsements on social media.
Believe in: the dangers of water
Credit: @rachelprochnow on Instagram
It’s easy to believe that it’s safe for lenses to come into contact with water, especially if you need yours to see clearly during water activities like swimming. However, influencer Rachel Prochnow recommends you avoid doing so as much as possible. She learned this lesson the hard way. Though Prochnow would follow all the best lens handling practices—such as washing her hands before touching them, never sleeping in them, and regularly replacing both her contacts and her lens cases, it only took a simple shower for her to go blind in one eye.
This is a story you’ll want to believe in because it’s a prime example of an Acanthamoeba keratitis (AK) infection. In essence, any kind of water—whether it comes from the tap, a swimming pool, a lake, or a sea—contains microbes, and Acanthamoeba poses the most threat to your eyesight. AK permanently damages the cornea and causes vision loss. It is more prevalent among contact lens wearers for the simple reason that contacts create micro fissures that Acanthamoeba can use to more easily enter the eyes.
Though AK is quite rare—occurring in roughly one to 33 people per million contact lens wearers—it’s still best to err on the side of caution and simply remove your contacts before washing your face, showering, or water activities like swimming. For the latter, consider wearing prescription goggles if you need clear eyesight to navigate your surroundings.
Don’t believe in: makeup hacks
Social media has makeup hacks aplenty, many of which can be unsafe for contact lens wearers. Any hack that requires putting excess product in the eye area, including techniques like baking, will make it more likely for makeup particles to travel to your eyes, stick to your contacts, and potentially cause irritation and infection. Hacks that involve the eyelashes are especially risky because of their proximity to the eyes themselves.
In February 2024, the Review of Optometry shared a report titled TikTok Contributing to Concerning Eye Trends. Here, eye care professionals particularly spoke against blow-drying as a technique to help enhance the appearance of eyelashes with mascara, noting that the eyes are not designed to withstand exposure to forceful air so close by. They emphasised that the hack could dangerously exacerbate eye dryness—something that contact lens wearers are already vulnerable to because contacts partially block the flow of oxygen to the eye—by causing long-term consequences like corneal abrasions, infections, and even blindness.
That said, it’s important to remember that makeup hacks don’t work for everyone. Specific hacks are meant to work for different kinds of makeup wearers, like people with hyperpigmentation or hooded eyes. If you wear contacts and want makeup advice, consider steering clear of hacks that involve heavy eye makeup and instead veer towards those that offer techniques that can achieve similar results while using less product. That way, you can reduce your chances of your lenses getting dirty and potentially causing infections.
