[Top: Teens are using contact lenses to get big eyes like hers, but doctors say this is dangerous.]

Originally developed to replace conventional glasses and give their users a wide field of vision, contact lenses are now often used for purely cosmetic reasons. Wearers don a pair when they fancy changing their eye colour and more recently, teens born with narrow eyes have been buying up "big eye" lenses, which make the irises and pupils appear larger.

These lenses, which measure between 14mm and 15.5mm, considerably bigger than standard lenses, which are less than 13mm, hit the headlines earlier this week following warnings that improper use could cause irreversible damage to the eyes of the young wearers.

Formerly considered luxury goods, contact lenses have become accessible to almost everyone thanks to improved technology and lower prices.

But the new fad for "big eye" contacts has the Public Health Ministry worried. With more and more teens who dream of having the same wide-eye look as their Korean pop heroes wearing smuggled lenses, the Food and Drug Administration has yet set up regulations to control imports.

Tapanee Tantisavee, who is short sighted, admits she's been influenced by Japanese and Korean pop stars, and opted for the 14mm lenses from Korea because she found them more attractive. She doesn't want to risk wearing the "big eye" lenses because she's worried about developing an infection.

Lenses with bad shapes or not kept clean can cause red eyes or more serious infection and even blindness, warns ophthalmologist Nuntawan Thamawarakul.

In a worst case, a patient may needs a corneal transplant, warns Dr Thidanan Rattanatam, and it may be five years before a cornea is donated.

Both doctors recommend anyone wishing to wear contact lenses, whether to correct their vision or for cosmetic reasons, to consult an ophthalmologist, since most of the products available in the market are beyond FDA control.

Unlike teeth that can easily be replaced, says Thidanan, loss of vision cannot be brought back, regardless of the treatment.

So think twice before you insert those small lenses in your eyes.

Daily Xpress/Asia News Network