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You Can Change Your Eyes to 'Riviera Blue'-but Should You?
Newser • • world
Key Points:
- In a Paris clinic, patients are paying around $8,100 for FLAAK, a procedure that injects pigment into the cornea to change eye color, creating a colored tunnel that hides the iris without altering it.
- The process, developed by ophthalmologist Francis Ferrari, involves using a femtosecond laser to create a circular tunnel in the cornea, followed by the injection of mineral-based dye, with a recovery time of about one day.
- Despite growing popularity and over 2,500 patients, including many recruited via Instagram, the American Academy of Ophthalmology warns against cosmetic keratopigmentation due to risks like infection, scarring, chronic pain, and blindness.
- The procedure is not FDA-approved, forcing U.S. patients to travel abroad or find a limited number of trained surgeons domestically, while Ferrari claims FLAAK is as safe as LASIK and safer than contact lenses or iris implants.
