A woman who underwent surgery to change her eye color from brown to blue has revealed how the procedure changed her life.
Ulku Dogan, from San Francisco, flew to New York City for the $12,000 operation called keratopigmentation, where surgeons cut open the clear area at the top of the eye and fill it with a dye.
She was conscious but under local anesthetic during the procedure, and she directed the surgeon to add more dye until her eyes were the desired color.
In a clip following the surgery, Ms Ulku — who works as a wealth adviser — exclaims ‘wow’ and says she ‘loves’ the new color.
Eye color change surgeries are becoming increasingly popular in the US, with a leading surgeon saying he now sees 400 patients for the operation every year — compared to just 15 in 2019.
But, experts warn against the procedure, saying it’s irreversible, not approved by the FDA and could result in blindness or other serious complications with vision.
But doctors offering the surgeries rail against this characterization, saying despite the warnings they are generally safe and quick, taking just 30 minutes.
Pictured above is Ulku Dogan before (left) and after the surgery (right) to change her eye color from brown to blue. She is a wealth advisor in San Francisco
Ms Dogan, 49, told Business Insider: ‘I feel confident, very happy. It’s the best investment I’ve ever done for myself. I wish I had done this 10 years ago.’
She did say she suffered from discomfort, however, and light sensitivity — an extreme discomfort or pain in the eyes when they are exposed to bright lights.
This can also include sensitivity to any level of illumination, or pain, that can lead to migraines or other issues.
In another case, Cameron Briggs — a 22-year-old cryptocurrency investor from Essex, England — said the surgery left him feeling like he was ‘about to explode’.
He told the Washington Post he was in pain for about 48 hours after the procedure to make one of his eyes bluish gray to match his pet puppy’s.
‘It was horrible, I felt sick,’ he said several months later. ‘But it’s a procedure at the end of the day, what did I expect?’
‘I did thing, though,’ he added, ‘ “If I get one eye and leave the other, at least I’ll only go blind in one eye”.’
Called keratopigmentation, the procedure involves slicing into the cornea — the clear, outermost, part of the eye — using a laser, and then filling the area with the desired pigment.
There is also another form of eye color surgery, involving implanting a colored sheet into the eye — called Iris implant surgery — to change its color.
Ms Dogan underwent keratopigmentation earlier this year and ‘loved’ her results
A patient known only as Mark who had this procedure in Panama previously to turn his eyes from brown to blue ended up going blind in the right eye.
The American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) says eye color change procedures like keratopigmentation can cause blindness, light sensitivity or cataracts — cloudiness in the eye that blurs and obscures vision.
It also says the procedure has not been approved for cosmetic purposes by the FDA. (But it can still be carried out off-label, as the surgery uses a method approved by the FDA but for treatment of another condition.)
Keratopigmentation uses the same lasers as those in LASIK eye surgery — which reshapes the cornea to allow someone to see without glasses.
These have previously been linked to complications with the eyes, including pain, blurred or double vision and excessive tearing.
Experts offering the eye color change surgery, however, insist it is generally safe to perform — citing a 2021 study that tracked 40 patients who had the surgery for about 29 months.
Its results showed 12 of the patients — 30 percent — experienced light sensitivity following the procedure, while five said the pigment faded and one — who had previously had other surgery on their eye — developed corneal ectasia, a condition that causes the cornea to thin and bulge outward.
Many patients who have the surgery accept the risks and say they are happy with the results.
As well as Ms Dogan, 39-year-old real estate worker Jason Jimenez, from New York City, who had his eyes changed from brown to light gray, says he does not regret the work.
‘I see it as an enhancement,’ he told the Wall Street Journal. ‘People get their teeth done, they get implants and Botox. If it’s something that could make you happier, make you look better — then why not?’
Top experts continue to warn over the dangers, including the clinical spokeswoman for the AAO Dr JoAnn Giaconi, who said: ‘Don’t think that these surgeries carry no risk.
‘No surgery is free of risk. With purely cosmetic surgeries on the eye, it’s just not worth the risk when it comes to your good vision.’
Dr Julian Prosia, an optometrist in Canada, also warned on TikTok: ‘Personally, if it were me, I would rather use colored contacts for a cosmetic benefit instead of putting myself at risk of long-term side effects.’
