Is It Harmful To Wear Colored Lenses?

“I am one of those people who use lenses that change eye color. But I am constantly worried that it can be harmful. And recently I heard that a technology has appeared that allows you to permanently change the color of your eyes from brown to blue. Is it true? I would like to know the details."

Ekaterina, 33

Expert's answer:

What do we know about eyes? Eye color depends on genetics. The more pigment on the iris, the darker the eyes, the less, the lighter. Brown eyes are the dominant gene, blue eyes are recessive. This fact does not affect the quality of vision. It has been scientifically proven that there is no relationship between the predisposition to eye diseases and the color of the iris. Although there is such a topic - it is called iridology, when the condition of the iris can tell about human diseases, but there are not many such doctors.

Someone has a congenital anomaly of heterochromia: a different color of the iris in different eyes. This is due to insufficient concentration of melanin in the anterior layer of the iris in one eye. Notable people with heterochomy include David Bowie, Alice Eve, Jane Seymour, Kate Bosworth, Henry Cavill, Mila Kunis and many others.

Now there is a very simple way to change the color of the iris - buy colored lenses. This “design” can appear to be hazardous to health compared to conventional lenses. But in fact, the risks of eye inflammation both when wearing regular and colored lenses are the same. Especially when worn for many years. This is especially noticeable to a surgeon who is consulted at our center for laser vision correction. According to international statistics, the risks from contact lenses (as well as their incorrect wearing) are higher today than from the latest generation of laser vision correction. Even a soft contact lens, worn over the eye, exerts a certain pressure on the cornea, slightly changing its curvature. This deformation persists for several days after removing the lens. Therefore, we ask patients not to wear contact lenses for 2-3 days before surgery.

Prolonged wearing of lenses causes thinning of the cornea and proliferation of blood vessels where they should not be (keratocytes lose the ability to synthesize new tissue). Even with proper lens wear, this can occur 3–5 years after use.

Infections that develop into erosion and ulcers. Daily lenses are less dangerous in terms of infection development than long-term lenses. In the latter, the main risk is poor cleansing, so the risk of introducing an infection is much higher - in science it is called bacterial keratitis (the lens turns, in fact, into a Petri dish for bacteria to multiply). In short, soft lenses are more dangerous in the long term: moreover, anything that is not one-day is about 6 times more dangerous. So if your eyes begin to cloudy while wearing lenses, then they must be removed immediately, and if the symptom persists, then run to the ophthalmologist.

It is dangerous for eyesight and improper wearing, or rather prolonged lens wear and subsequent hypoxic changes. Even the most oxygen-permeable soft lenses have a time limit. Most often it is 8 hours (open the instructions for yours and check, this is important!). Often people put them on at 8 o'clock in the morning and then take them off around 10 pm. The result is a lack of oxygen, the growth of vessels from the limbal opaque zone (and there are usually no vessels in the cornea and should not be) and their penetration into the cornea. All this is fraught with unpleasant changes: for example, a significant decrease in vision. Just imagine that you have to walk in a plastic bag from 8 am to 10 pm. This is definitely an unhealthy condition. By the way, significant dryness in the eyes after removing the lenses is also not good, it may be a sign of edema. If this happened to you,then in the next two weeks it is better not to wear lenses. It is worth considering replacing them with glasses or making corrections.

The most modern and gentle method of correction is ReLEx SMILE (Switzerland), recovery takes only one day. Alternatively, opt for the very latest Femto Lasik Custom Vue.

As for the change in eye color, at the last ASLMS conference in the USA, the IrexLaser technology was presented, which will help to permanently change the color of the eyes from brown to blue, that is, to lighten the pigment. But this is still a vast field for study.