A growing number of people are undergoing keratopigmentation, a procedure that involves injecting dye into the cornea to change eye color, but several physicians warn against it, The Wall Street Journal reported Nov. 17.
People shared various reasons for wanting to change their eye color, including wanting to look more like their family members or feel more confident about their looks. One young man told the Journal he changed one brown eye to blue to match his Siberian husky's eyes.
The surgery only takes about half an hour, and the results are immediate and irreversible.
New York ophthalmologist Alexander Movshovich, MD, PhD, is one of the few U.S. doctors who offer keratopigmentation. He charges $12,000 per surgery, which isn't covered by insurance. Dr. Movshovich said he's on track to perform 400 operations this year.
Keratopigmentation is sometimes used to treat people with injured or diseased eyes, such as giving patients the appearance of an iris if they have cloudy corneas from an infection. Several eye specialists told the Journal the benefits outweigh the risks but said it's irresponsible to perform the operation on healthy patients.
Side effects can include vision loss, temporary light sensitivity, and bacterial or fungal infection.
"I'm very surprised that these surgeons are doing this in the United States," Guillermo Amescua, MD, an ophthalmologist in Miami, told the outlet. "They are taking a risk."