Baby blue eyes. There are a dozen million songs written about them, and a dozen million more people wishing for them.
For one reason or another, blue eyes have been the envy of men and women all over the world. It might be because of their rarity, with only 17% of the world’s population being born with them. It might be because blue eyes have always been perceived as a symbol of beauty, regardless of the color of your skin.
Personally, I’m quite happy with my typical brown eyes, but I have played first-hand witness to the frustration. Friends and acquaintances have gone through great lengths to acquire that captivating blue-eyed gaze. Usually, they end up using contact lenses, which often deliver inaccurate and unnatural blues.
For those of you who share the same frustrations about the color of your irises and failed contact lenses, know of the other alternatives in achieving your dreams below.
BrightOcular
BrightOcular is an intraocular iris implant developed in the United States. It’s made of ‘a thin, flexible, biocompatible, colored medical grade silicone which has been developed to alter iris appearance for medical and cosmetic purposes.’ The implants are surgically inserted in the irises, and results to an immediate steely gray-hued blue eyes.
Though convenient and admittedly quite pretty to look at, there are some risks that come about these implants. Being that the surgery is basically inserting a foreign object in your eyes, they have been reported to cause eye infection. In some cases, it’s also been rumored to cause blindness. There have been no definitive proof on these consequences, however.
Stroma Medical
Stroma Medical’s philosophy is that we all have blue eyes. They believe that hidden underneath brown and black eyes are the blue eyes we all desire, they just have to remove the overabundance of pigment in our irises. Hence, they pioneered a laser procedure that displaces the ‘extra pigments. And once those are gone, it’s welcome the blue eyes you never had you new.
This laser procedure is permanent and currently has no concrete proof of resulting to blue eyes. But, should it work, ophthalmologists still discourage undergoing the laser procedure. They are saying that the excess pigments displaced by the laser procedure are a risk for blocking the optic nerve, which may lead to glaucoma.
Gregg Homer, the man who pioneered the laser procedure, assures anticipating customers that the amount of pigments displaced aren’t significant enough to cause glaucoma.
Either way, it’s all hypothetical for now. Benefit or consequences, no one is certain if Stroma Medical is onto something. What’s for sure though are the growing number of people anticipating it’s commercial release, and some who are skeptical of it.
At the end of the day, the culture of wanting blue eyes is still a double-edged sword. On the one hand, we are all entitled to self-expression and making our bodies into whatever we please. But then again, is it really so bad having brown eyes?
Photos courtesy of unsplash.com and brightocular.com
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Writer: ANTHEA REYES
