Eyes are the window to the soul. Or at least that’s what the famous proverb says. What it never makes clear is that if you’re not happy, picture window You can go to a specialist and replace what you were born with with another. Don’t like your brown eyes? No problem, wear something green or grey. Want a striking teal look but think you were born with brown eyes, which we share with 55 to 79% of humanity? The same. The important thing is to save enough and go under the knife.

It may sound like science fiction, but there are people in the US who do the same thing, artificially changing eye color. And it doesn’t come cheap. It cost them more than $10,000.

Don’t like the colour? Change it. This statement would not be very interesting if we were talking about hair, nails, or even the skin of the arms, legs, or torso. fainting It’s gaining strength in the tattoo world. But in this case we are talking about something different: eyes. Just as there are people who go to hairdressers to transform their brown hair into a platinum blonde or reddish mane, more and more people are going to private clinics to change their corneas and inject them with a special pigment. Just like with hair. Although in these cases the change is irreversible.

Keratopigmentation is with you. This is the procedure that allows you to change the color of your eyes. In fact, it is not a new application, nor is it used only for aesthetic clinics to make money. Generally speaking, keratopigmentation consists of using a laser to alter the cornea, the clear membrane underneath which the iris sits, and injecting a colored pigment into it. For this reason, the technique is often referred to as ‘eye tattoo’.

After the operation, the pigment paints the transparent cornea and covers the natural color of the iris. The fact that keratopigmentation is performed purely for aesthetic purposes does not mean that it does not have therapeutic applications. For example, the Spanish Society of Ophthalmology (SEO) explains that pigmentation is used in a “more limited and reduced” way in patients with small defects in the iris that cause double vision or photophobia. Also for aesthetic reasons in some people with amaurotic eyes with opaque corneas.

Not suitable for every budget. Not everyone wants to go to the clinic and have lasers and pigments applied to their corneas to feel more handsome. And the fact is that the cost of the operation is not affordable for everyone. Wall StreetJournal A few days ago he devoted an article to the topic of ‘eye tattoos’ and left two pieces of information in this article. First, in New York they pay up to $12,000 per surgery. A quick search shows that there are those in Spain advertising the service for slightly less, without going below four figures.

Other data relates to usage. Although information TWSJ While he claims that this is a minority practice, he also reveals that it is becoming increasingly widespread in the country. For his article, reporter Dominique Mosbergen interviewed the alleged first ophthalmologist in the United States to offer aesthetic keratopigmentation. He set up his clinic in Manhattan in 2019 and treated just a dozen and a half patients during the first year. Around 400 will operate this year.

In Spain, the practice is popular enough that SEO and the general press, especially the media, have raised the attention (and alarm) of some patients.

But… Why? There are as many answers as there are users, but the common denominator is generally the same: They are not happy with the eye color they were born with. “I see this as progress. People are getting their teeth straightened, getting implants and Botox. If this is something that will make you happier, feel better, why not?” TWSJ Real estate agent Jason Jiménez changed his eye color just a few weeks ago. She entered the clinic with brown irises and left with a light grayish hue.

The newspaper describes another young man who wanted to dye one of his eyes, but one of his eyes remained brown and the other blue. Reason: To imitate the heterochromia of the Siberian Husky. Another woman, 36-year-old artist Lucia Inman-Valero, admits she looks for teal eyes that will make her stand out. “I don’t want them to look unnatural,” he admits. She went to Movshovich’s clinic twice last year to get pigmentation done.

It’s not all ‘eye tattoos’. No. Keratopigmentation is not the only option for those like Jiménez or Inman-Valero who want to change their appearance in the most literal (and chromatic) sense of the expression. Another relatively common technique is iris depigmentation, in which lasers are used to burn off the pigment in the iris, resulting in the eyes acquiring a bluish color.

The American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) reminds us that there is another technique involving iris implants that is FDA-approved for patients who are missing part or all of the eye’s membranous disc due to an injury or congenital defect. The procedure is quite different: The surgeon makes a small hole in the edge of the cornea and inserts an artificial iris, which opens into the eye and covers its original color.

But… Is it safe? Million dollar question. TWSJ He cites a doctor who began performing cosmetic keratopigmentation in Los Angeles earlier this year and claims that there have been no reports of patients with infections or vision loss, at least among those who have not had LASIK eye surgery before. But the truth is that both the SEO in Spain and the AAO in the USA have raised their voices to warn about the risks of such interventions, whether laser or iris implant.

Some parts of your message are very similar. Keratopigmentation comes with risks that can be taken in patients with vision problems, but the real question is… Is it worth it for pure aesthetics for a person with good vision? AAO spokesman Dr. “Don’t assume these surgeries are risk-free,” Giaconi warns. “No surgery is risk-free. In purely aesthetic eye surgeries, if your vision is good, it is not worth taking the risk.”

“Serious decompensations”. SEO is even more emphatic. Precisely to warn about the risks of keratopigmentation, a paper published in May (Flaak) reminds us that there is evidence of patients undergoing surgery resulting in “severe corneal decompensations leading to irreversible loss of their transparency.” referred them to corneal transplantation. “This suggests that it cannot be considered a safe technique for purely aesthetic purposes.”

That’s not his only warning. The ophthalmologists’ association warns about peripheral visual field loss, difficulties in performing a thorough examination of the eye, or problems that pigment may cause as the patient ages. For example, if you need surgery for cataracts, retina or any intraocular intervention, the doctor performing the surgery will have difficulty appreciating the structures of the eye, which “significantly increases the risk of intervention and complications,” he notes. .

Add and continue. The organism is blind. He advises against laser and pigment color change, reminding us that “there is insufficient scientific evidence to support the safety and effectiveness” of these interventions, and goes even further: The result may also be artificial, since the tinted color is not truly artificial. It has “sufficient depth” inside the eye so that the sensation at the tip is “similar to the sensation caused by colored contact lenses.” Something similar has been suggested by the OAA, which even published a list of possible “risks and complications” of both keratopigmentation and iris implants.

In aesthetic surgeries for iris implantation, the danger of vision loss, blindness, light sensitivity, glaucoma, corneal lesions or cataracts is mentioned. In the case of keratopigmentation, photosensitivity, uveitis, infections or even a final result such as “dye leakage”, “uneven distribution” of the color or loss of tone due to leakage of the dye, which can disappoint the patient.

Pictures | Alexander Gray (Unsplash) and Tao Yuan (Unsplash)

in Xataka | The color you see when you close your eyes exists and has a name: Eigengrau.