Eye Color Development: How and Why It Changes

Our eyes can change color unexpectedly, whether by an apparent spontaneous shift, an accident, or a disease.

The first images of the newborn child that appeared on our family chat showed a cute, bemused-appearing face with wide, slate-grey eyes that were closer in color to his mother's green eyes than his father's brown eyes. However, by the time he turned two, the pictures showed he had transformed into a contented toddler with eyes the same dark brown color as his father's, with no longer any sign of the dark grey of the earlier shots.

As unique to us as the shape of our nose or how much our ears protrude, we consider the color of our eyes one of our distinguishing physical characteristics. Eye color can even affect how trustworthy we find someone, which is a characteristic that can frequently create a lasting impact on us.

Surprisingly, our eye color doesn't always stay the same throughout our lifetimes; in fact, a variety of outside factors, such as trauma, infection, and UV damage, can alter it. And occasionally, the transformation occurs on its own.

How does eye color develop?

Your eyes were probably blue when you were born. Due to low quantities of melanin in their bodies and eyes, babies' eyes exhibit this color. The pigment melanin supplies the color to your eyes, skin, and hair. Your body begins to create melanin once exposed to light, which alters the color of your hair, skin, and eyes.

Babies typically have paler complexion, hair, and eyes than adults since they don't get as much exposure to light as adults do. However, heredity also impacts skin, eye, and hair color. For instance, if your parents have darker skin and hair, you were likely born with the same dark pigments in your skin and hair.

However, it took a little longer for your eye color to develop. Your eyes developed more melanin pigments the longer they were exposed to light. However, your eyes may have grown dark brown due to your genetics. Or your eyes didn't change much and remained a soft blue color. Therefore, your genes control how bright or dark your eye color is, independent of how much or little light exposure you receive.

What causes the eyes to change color?

A fundamental change in eye color may be unimportant or indicate a medical issue requiring attention. Changes in the iris alone or other eye components can cause changes in eye color. The iris can change the color of your eyes in the following ways:

Natural age-related eye color changes

Children are one of the groups of people that experience changes in eye color the most frequently. Typically, a baby's eyes are lighter or bluer when they are born, primarily due to a newborn's lack of sun exposure and underdeveloped melanin in their eyes. Melanin production rises as they are exposed to light, changing the color of their eyes.

However, as a person ages, eye color changes can also occur. People with lighter-colored eyes, particularly Caucasians, may notice a gradual lightening of their eyes. Over time, the pigment slowly deteriorates, producing less color.

Additional factors changing eye color

Sun exposure

Exposure to the sun can alter eye color because melanin affects eye color. Typically, it necessitates lengthy exposure and darkens the irises.

Medical treatments

Some drugs may change the color of your eyes. A well-known eyelash growth serum that was only available with a prescription was one excellent example. Although the side effect was uncommon and typically required using the drops on the eye instead of the lash line, where they were intended to be administered, a chemical in the serum may have the power to affect eye pigments.

Other prescription drugs and surgical procedures can also alter eye color. Your eye care professional will go over any potential side effects of therapy with you in advance if that is one of them.

Emotions

Our emotions can also alter the color of our eyes because they alter the size of the pupil. The body releases chemicals that alter pupil size when you are joyful, angry, or depressed. It has been observed that when you are joyful, your eyes get a more lively color, and when you are sad, they become brighter and redder.

Diet

The foods we eat have a significant impact on our eyes. Examples include:

Fish: strengthens the eye color, and the alteration may be long-lasting.
Onions: Onion consumption regularly can alter skin and eye color.
Nuts: You can get lighter-colored eyes by eating nuts. Roasted nuts have no effects since their nutrients are lost when subjected to high temperatures.

Clothing and makeup

Because our eyes appear more brilliant and bright when we wear dark-colored clothing and the same eye makeup color, it is only an impression that clothes and cosmetics alter our eye color.

How to change the eye color?

Eye color Temporarily Changing

Wearing contact lenses is the most popular way to alter your eye color temporarily. Different colored contact lenses are available:

Opaque: These are solid and opaque and cause a complete color shift. The most widely used opaque contact lens colors are blue, grey, brown, green, or violet.

Enhancement: These transparent enhancements reveal the color of your eyes' natural pigment. They intensify the color of your eyes and aid in defining the margins of your iris. For instance, these lenses will intensify the color of your jade green eyes, giving you emerald eyes.

Visibility: These lenses don't affect the color of your eyes; instead, they have tiny blue or green dots that slightly alter your eye color.

But some decorative lenses used as fashion accessories can harm your eyes. You risk receiving damaged or dirty lenses without a prescription if you purchase decorative lenses. Wearing these glasses carries the following risks:

Hazy vision
Scorching and itchy eyes
Increase in the amount of water produced in the eyes
Abrasion of the cornea, often known as a scratch,
Blindness
Having a reddened eye
Terrible eye discomfort

If any of the symptoms above apply, get medical attention immediately. Untreated symptoms might develop into severe infections that can cause blindness.

Permanent eye color change

Lens implant surgery is a procedure that was first employed to treat severe eye injuries and other diseases. However, it can also be used to alter eye color permanently. In this procedure, the surgeon makes a tiny incision in the cornea and implants a synthetic iris that has been folded to suit the opening. The artificial iris is spread out from beneath the cornea, giving your eyes a more natural appearance. Nowadays, cosmetic benefits above medical ones have made this procedure more well-known.

The following complications could occur for patients who undergo this surgery for cosmetic reasons, say the doctors:

A slight loss of vision
As the clear lens becomes obscured, cataracts develop.
Corneal damage
Inflammation of the cornea
Inflammation, redness, and pain in the eyes

Cosmetic surgery is new, and there needs to be more studies on it up to this point, and there needs to be more proof that this procedure is secure and efficient. Therefore, discussing this operation with the doctor and fully comprehending all the terms and circumstances before the surgery is advisable.

Conclusion

Some ophthalmologists assert that your eyes don't simply change color alone. Instead, the appearance of your eye color on any day is determined by several outside circumstances paired with your genetics. You shouldn't be concerned unless you've seen abrupt, significant changes in the color of your eyes.

We invite you to experience the warm and welcoming environment at Casey Optical Too, LLC. Our commitment to comprehensive eye care ensures that all your vision needs are met with expert care. You can schedule an appointment today and find out the difference between personalized, independent optical care in the heart of Albuquerque, New Mexico.

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Eye Color Development: How and Why It Changes

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