What is eye color change surgery?
Eye color change surgery is a cosmetic procedure that aims to change the color of your eyes. While some of these surgeries can be used to treat certain eye conditions, they are not approved for cosmetic use. These surgeries carry a lot of risk, possibly even leading to loss of vision.
If your eyes are working as they should, the changes these surgeries make inside the eye may cause worse problems. Considering their risks, they have not been approved for cosmetic use.
Why do some people want to surgically change their eye color?
There are several reasons someone might want to change their eye color. Outside of being influenced by trends seen on social media, someone might want to do this for a professional reason (like if they’re an actor or a model). Others may want to please a partner, resemble family members or have lighter eyes because of societal pressure.
Whatever the reason, undergoing a surgery when you don’t have to can be dangerous. The eyes are very delicate, and damage from an unnecessary surgery can threaten your eye health and vision.
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What do medical experts say?
There isn’t much in the way of regulation or approval of these procedures. At best, they don’t have enough long-term evidence to be considered safe. At worst, these cosmetic surgeries may even be considered malpractice.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not approved any eye color change surgery. In fact, the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) explicitly warns against these surgeries. For cosmetic purposes, their benefits just do not outweigh their risks.
What are the risks and complications?
There are many risks with cosmetic eye color change surgery. For one, these surgeries can damage parts of the eye, particularly the iris or cornea. The iris is the colored ring in your eye. It lets light in by adjusting the size of your pupil. The cornea is the clear dome that covers the front of the eye. It focuses the light so you can see.
Eye color change surgeries involve making changes in the cornea and iris to change your eye color. If either becomes damaged from the procedure, it may interfere with your vision. And, if the complications are serious enough, other treatments or surgeries may even be needed later.
Other side effects can include:
- Inflammation around the iris and surrounding area
- Sensitivity to light
- Bacterial or fungal infection
In other cases, eye color change surgeries might cause new eye conditions altogether. These could include:
- Glaucoma – When pressure builds up inside the eye. Damage from this pressure could result in serious vision problems, even vision loss.
- Cataracts – When cloudiness forms in the cornea. Cataracts could disrupt vision and lead to vision loss if not taken care of.
These surgeries, or the conditions they cause, run serious risks regarding your long-term vision. It is possible to lose your vision completely, even permanently. Simply put: the risks outweigh the benefits.
Different eye color procedures and why they’re so risky
There are surgeries out there that can change eye color. However, in many cases, these procedures have been adapted from ones that are meant to treat certain eye conditions. For cosmetic purposes, these surgeries are extremely risky.
Iris implant surgery
Iris implant surgery involves placing an artificial iris over your real one. The new iris (typically made of silicone) is inserted through a small incision made on the cornea and then adjusted to cover your natural iris.
Complications with this surgery can be serious. The most common one is damage to the cornea caused by inflammation and loss of endothelial cells (the innermost layer of the cornea). This surgery could also cause cataracts or raised pressure inside the eye, leading to glaucoma.
Iris implant surgery is intended for people who have a defect in their iris, like a part that’s been damaged or is missing. For these patients, the benefits of iris implant surgery may outweigh the risks. But for cosmetic reasons, the risks of covering an already intact iris simply aren’t worth it.
Corneal tattooing (keratopigmentation)
With corneal tattooing (or keratopigmentation), small channels or grooves are created inside the cornea using a needle or a laser. Pigment is then injected into these spaces. This changes your eye color by covering up the natural color of your iris.
Like an iris implant, corneal tattooing can help restore function in people who need it because of an iris defect (it helps with light scattering and sensitivity). But for purely cosmetic purposes, the risks from this surgery are not worth it.
The dye used for corneal tattooing may cause a reaction, which could lead to uveitis (inflammation of the eye). Ongoing uveitis can cause pain and changes in vision, possibly even leading to vision loss. The dye could also cause an eye infection or leak into other areas of the eye.
Laser eye color change
Laser procedures, like laser depigmentation, may be used to lighten eye color. This surgery uses a laser to remove pigment (melanin) from the eye. The aim is to “heat” the melanin in the front of the iris to burn it away, leaving lighter colors underneath.
Although this technique has been used in some places, its long-term safety is still under investigation. Some concerns and risks with this procedure are:
- Inflammation
- Light sensitivity
- Pigmentary glaucoma (raised pressure caused by pigment spreading throughout the eye)
On top of that, this technique only works if you want to go from darker to lighter, and you can’t control the final shade.
Is eye color surgery ever a good option?
Eye color change surgery is not recommended or endorsed by medical organizations, like the FDA or AAO. While some of these surgeries can have benefits for people with a condition, like a missing or partial iris, the risks far outweigh the benefits for cosmetic purposes.
If you have questions, talk over your options with an ophthalmologist. They can help you understand the risks and make an informed decision.
Safer ways to change your eye color
There are ways you can mix up your eye color without resorting to surgery. These include:
- Wearing clothes and using lighting that complements your eyes a certain way
- Applying eye makeup and makeup techniques to make your eyes look a different shade
- Using digital tools to make your eyes look a different color for pictures, social media or video calls
For a slightly more permanent change, ask your ophthalmologist about colored contact lenses. They’re a safe way to change eye color, but only when they are prescribed for you – wearing costume contacts can come with its own risks.
It can be tempting to change your eye color – and with these options, there are much safer alternatives to eye color change surgery.
