Can eye drops change your eye color? Kane In Your Corner finds out (2024)

FAQs

Can eye drops really change your eye color? ›

As for eye drops claiming they can permanently lighten your eye color, she says there's no evidence those will be effective. “You're actually stopping melanin from being produced, and that's really difficult to do, when you're talking about something penetrating into the eye to make a difference,” Cobin-Simon said.

Keep your eyes closed. Hold the eye drop bottle with your thumb and first two fingers. Put the other two fingers of your hand on your nose for stability. Without touching the bottle to your eyelid, put an eye drop in the corner of your eye near your nose.

There are two types of medications that affect your eye color: glaucoma eye drops and eyelash serums. These changes are usually permanent. This side effect does not happen to everyone, and the change may be very subtle.

Preservatives and thickening agents in eye drops can cause irritation of the eye if used for too long. This is another reason why no eye drop should be used beyond the prescribed period unless it is a simple saline solution. Not more than four doses of any eye drops containing preservatives should be used in one day.

For most people, eye color will not change significantly past infancy. If you notice a change in your eye color, set an appointment with an eye doctor to help find the cause. If it's a major change that happens suddenly, ask for an urgent appointment.

Changes in eye color are rare. Sometimes, the color of your eye may appear to change when your pupils dilate. The colors in your environment, including lighting and your clothes, can give the illusion of eye color change.

Rubbing too hard or too frequently might damage the lens of your eye or the cornea. This could result in vision impairment or an infection that needs medical attention.

Answer: It should be no problem at all. It isn't an oversight you'd like to have happen regularly, but a single dose to the unaffected eye shouldn't cause any issues.

Risks of Overusing Eye Drops

However, overusing these eye drops could cause a rebound effect, where the blood vessels constrict so much and so little oxygen and nutrients reach your eyes that your body overcompensates and dilates the vessels even more. This could worsen and prolong your eye redness and irritation.

Your iris (the colored part of your eye) may change through a virus or disease process, leading to a slightly different hue to your eyes. The color may lighten due to a loss of pigmentation in your iris or atrophy when the muscle in your iris grows thinner. Causes could include: Pigment dispersion syndrome.

Why is my vision changing color suddenly? ›

A change in color perception can be caused by many different eye diseases. Cataracts, glaucoma, retinal disease such as macular degeneration and disease of the optic nerve such as optic neuritis or any other optic nerve problem can cause this.

Drops to Avoid

It's best to avoid decongestant eye drops such as Visine, Naphcon, Opcon, or Clear Eyes when treating dry eyes. You can recognize these drops because they are typically advertised as a relief for red eyes or allergies.

Unless instructed by your eye doctor, using eye drops every day may cause harm—especially if using the wrong eye drop for the problem. In many cases, it's better to deal with the underlying cause of your dry eyes rather than focusing on the daily use of eyedrops, if possible.

Your MSM, color changing, and eye lightening eye drop products are not generally recognized as safe and effective (GRASE) for their above-referenced uses and, therefore, these products are “new drugs” under section 201(p) of the FD&C Act, 21 U.S.C. 321(p).

If a person wants to change their eye color temporarily, this is most often accomplished with contact lenses. There are many types available that provide different effects. For people hoping to alter their eye color permanently, iris implant surgery is available.

Keratopigmentation, a procedure to permanently change one's eye color that has been performed for at least a decade in Europe, is gaining popularity in the United States.

More pigment accumulates in the iris over the first few months of a child's life and blue eyes can become less blue or even turn completely brown. For most children, eye color stops changing after the first year, but for some kids the color can continue to change for several more years.

As they are exposed to light, melanin production increases, causing the color of their eyes to shift. However, eye color changes can also occur as a person ages. Those with lighter color eyes – especially Caucasians – may see their eyes lighten over time. The pigment slow degrades over time, resulting in less color.