In the name of vanity
Published 7:00 am Thursday, March 5, 2015
Nowadays, it seems as though we can change almost every physical attribute about ourselves, including our eye color.
According to CNN, there’s a new laser procedure currently in the testing phase, which turns brown eyes blue.
Only 17 percent of the world’s population has blue eyes, the news source reported, which explains why the eye color is so desired by many, especially those who have the more common brown eye color.
Stroma Medical is at the forefront of the laser procedure, which uses pigmentation and eliminates the brown melanin at the anterior layers of the eye’s iris, CNN reported.
While the procedure isn’t available publicly yet, the news source reported that several preliminary studies done in Mexico and Costa Rica have proved the procedure safe and successful.
Whether it’s safe or not, the procedure seems a little strange.
Why undergo a procedure, which still involves certain health risks, just to change your eye color?
While I have brown eyes, I’m proud of my brown-eyed girl identity. After all, Van Morrison didn’t sing about a blue-eyed girl.
But let’s face it. There are plenty of other purely aesthetic cosmetic surgery procedures out there, including micropigmentation, which permanently marks your face with makeup and facial implants. Certainly, this laser eye procedure won’t be the last of them.
However, there are so many other medical breakthroughs to be made and this purely cosmetic procedure isn’t accomplishing much for medicine.
Not only is the eye an extremely sensitive organ, but according to CNN, several health experts say that putting pigmentation into the eyes can cause medical issues like glaucoma.
Is it really worth it?
While it’s not yet certain when the procedure will be made available to the public, I’m sure there will be people willing to risk their health in the name of vanity.