Have you ever wondered, “why is it that I didn’t get mom’s blue eyes and my brother did?” or, “I think I would look way better with green eyes?”
Don’t feel bad, don’t be embarrassed. We all have. In fact, it’s been proven that most people wish they could change a genetic trait of theirs and out of all of those people, eye color is a very popular choice.
In doing research for this blog I came across so many websites and even blogs/chat discussions dedicated to people interested in changing their eye colors, colored contacts, why the population of blue-eyed people is diminishing in the US and even a 2008 article discussing how there hadn’t been a president elected without blue eyes since Nixon!
This leads me to explain that yes, you can change your eye color with surgery. There is now actually something called “Iris Implants”. They have been performed outside of the United States and are making their way here. They are currently not FDA approved in the US.
Here at Slade & Baker Vision Center, our doctors get a chance to be involved in so many new, emerging techniques and as Dr. Slade has been a part of many firsts, sometimes, this comes with the job of having to fix things that happen overseas or even in the US.
I hope I didn’t hype everyone up about iris implants just yet. Dr. Slade has actually had to perform an iris implant removal and posted a really interesting video on his youtube channel of the procedure.
Some facts about this video:
This is a 30-year-old patient who had iris implants placed in his eyes outside of the United States. These Iris Implants are made of thin silicone and are placed to change the color of the iris. As you can see at the very end of the video, the implants have small appendages or tabs that allow the implanting surgeon to put them into position.
This patient was suffering from high intraocular pressure (IOP), a loss of endothelial cells, and chronic inflammation. Dr. Slade created a 2.4 mm corneal incision in each eye and successfully removed the implants with micro coaxial forceps using a hand over hand technique.
During the procedure, Dr. Slade realized multiple full-thickness areas of iris atrophy in both eyes. The good news is that this patient did recover good visual acuity, and his pressures dropped, however, the implants caused both iris deformation and a displaced pupil which remained post-surgery. Click here to watch video.
What we all have to realize is how much trial and error goes into any procedure in medicine, especially ophthalmology. The amount of surgeons/procedures it takes to get things right is overwhelming. Unfortunately, doctors in the ophthalmology world are still working on perfecting iris implants and getting them just right before we roll them out in the US.
We are very happy here at SBVC to know that we are part of the efforts and on the front lines of knowing what is new and ready!
We recommend you subscribe to Dr. Slade’s youtube channel today to keep up to date with all the updates in LASIK, Cataract surgery, Iris implants, and any advancements in the eye world!
