Changing your eye color is the new trend – but what are the risks and rewards?

A popular trend to change your eye color has taken Florida by storm.

It’s surprisingly easy, but is going under the knife worth it?

KERATOPIGMENTATION

Inside an office in Flagami is where you’ll find Dr. Alexander Movshovich, the founder of Kerato, an eye center that specializes in keratopigmentation, otherwise known as corneal tattooing: the process of adding dye to your eye’s cornea.

“It’s such a dramatic change,” Dr. Movshovich said.

It’s a trend that has taken social media by storm, including 43-year-old Chaz Vernon. He says it was through TikTok that he was able to see patients walk through Kerato’s doors and come out with different eyes.

“I always wanted different eyes when I was little, a little kid, I didn’t like my brown eyes," he said. "Did some research, found them, and here I am.”

He flew six hours from Salt Lake City and paid $8,000 to get to Miami, to be able to take part in the surgery that costs $12,000.

“I am ready to rock and roll," Vernon said.

THE PROCEDURE

Vernon is one of five other patients being seen that day. But in total, Kerato has seen more than 1,400 patients.

Dr. Movshovich explained that before even going into the surgical room, he and Vernon had sifted through nine color options to choose from and sat down for various consultations.

“Preparation is psychological preparation. I have to explain to them what is specifically going to happen,” said Dr. Movshovich, a board-certified ophthalmologist.

Once ready for surgery, it’s a two-part process.

Vernon receives local anesthesia, and then he lays back for part one. A laser is placed on the eye, opening the channel into which the pigment will be put. The patient cannot move their head during this process and must listen carefully to the doctor’s commands.

For the second part, the doctor creates an incision to open the channel and then places the permanent pigment inside of that hole.

After about 30 minutes the patient is all done. In Vernon's case, he gets his dream come true.

“I love it,” he said with a smile.

But the surgery is not favored by all.

THE CONTROVERSY

“It’s not FDA approved, it’s not recommended by us at the Baskin Palmer Eye Institute, and it’s also not recommended by the American Academy of Ophthalmology," said Dr. Guillermo Amescua, a professor of ophthalmology at Baskin Palmer Institute.

He says keratopigmentation has been around for a long time, and while it seems safe, he doesn’t believe it is.

“This is surgery you are doing on your healthy eyes and you’re applying ink to the cornea that will stay there permanently. And that will change the structure of the cornea, and we don’t know how because it hasn’t been studied,” he said.

Keratopigmentation is coined as the better option to iris implants or depigmentation, two other surgical procedures to change one’s eye color that professionals on all sides agree do more harm than good.

However, Dr. Amescua says that regardless of the procedure, all have long-term consequences that go beyond the "now" trend.

“When the ink is applied, it stays there forever, so if you are a 20-year-old or 30-year-old patient, what’s going to happen to those cornea cells 20 years from now, 30 years from now?” he said. “Patients need to know if they are going to have permanent ink in their corneas, they are going to make it very difficult for their eye doctor to examine them in the future.”

For Dr. Movshovich, his patients in both Miami and New York come to him for different reasons.

“It’s about 15% of people feel they were born with the wrong color, like the wrong gender. And another 65% is just, everyone does blue eyes, and I am not. And another 15% is just a trend. Everyone is doing it, I want it too,” he said.

And it’s that psychological aspect of the surgery that also leaves others in the medical field concerned.

“Even when they got the cosmetic procedure, whatever cosmetic procedure, they still are not happy with the procedure, in many of the cases, and they go into severe mental health issues," Dr. Amescua said. "We have to be very careful as physicians if we are going to do something cosmetic, and if we are going to do something with no long-term validation, we have to be extremely careful as patients and as physicians.”

But at Kerato, Dr. Movshovich claims patients who leave the table have nothing but a smile on their face, and a set of new eyes to match.

Those who would like to get this procedure because of a medical condition, as of now, would not be covered under insurance.

Dr. Amescua says it’s best to consult with your eye doctor on the best treatment plans available, in order to not make a decision that’s irreversible.