Change eye-color without a medical procedure

Matiasve · Nov 5, 2011

Does there exist a way to change someone's eye-color without a medical procedure, I need it for my story.

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Sorry for the shortened version , had to go somewhere and I hoped i would be able to get an answer after I got back.

Here are few more details:

- My main character has no access to any form of medical procedures ( he just survived a war, destruction of his city)
- 85% of the remaining world would kill him at sight

He needs to change his eye-color because that is what makes 85% of the world recognise him as an enemy ( I know it's a cliche ).
But he would have to perform this procedure often to remain 'in disguise' ( this will probably force him to kill his best friend at one point)

I have several solutions in mind:
- Make him 'steal' the eyes of a dead soldier in the ruins of his town ( PROBLEM: Doing this often would turn him into a 'serial killer' which might ruin some of the other things I have in mind)
- Involve a deity ... I already involved the personification of death ... more deity's would be confusing
- Let a member of the other 15% help him ( PROBLEM: Dont want him to receive help that soon... he has to be extemely saddened and in need of revenge for the things I have in mind)

I'm doing my best to come to a solution myself
but if someone happens to know a way to change someone's eye color in a rather simplistic way ... feel free to tell me

EDIT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Think i've found the solution:

Nevermind that solution is not usable

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As someone told I need to consider the fact that changing eye-colors cant be to easy.

Hence I might just go for the stress-change someone wrote about!

PS: Neither Vampires nor Werewolves will be part of my story, the pureblood thing has nothing to do with that

Sane_Man · Nov 5, 2011

Contact lenses?

dangerousbill · Nov 5, 2011

Matiasve said:
Does there exist a way to change someone's eye-color without a medical procedure, I need it for my story.

Any shop that fits contact lenses can give you the details. They're used a lot in TV and movies, but also available to the general public.

amlptj · Nov 5, 2011

Beside contact lenses there are medications and genetic disorders that can alter the color of the iris.

There is a new medication on the market used to extend eyelashes that can cause dark spots to develop on the iris.

There are also genetic disorders usually that deal with a person who "ate" there twin in the uterus called Fetus in Feto. The genetic disorder can cause odd discoloration in the iris.

rainsmom · Nov 5, 2011

Have you seen that lash thickening serum called Latisse that Brooke Shields used to advertise on TV? Apparently it could cause eye color to change -- permanently:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3297405...st-lashes-few-bat-eye-odd-risks/#.TrW1LUOa_mU

amlptj · Nov 5, 2011

YES! that's what its called! I couldn't remember the name!

jjdebenedictis · Nov 5, 2011

Babies' eyes change colour, but that happens right after birth, when their irises are first exposed to light. I believe the body starts pumping in melanin (the same stuff that makes skin brown.)

I don't think it's possible to change eye colour (even WITH a medical procedure) after that point unless you're just disguising it with contact lenses.

If your book has a science fiction bent, it might be possible to come up with a hypothetical way to change eye colour.

EDIT: Ooh! I didn't know about Latisse! Coooool...

IceCreamEmpress · Nov 5, 2011

There are some medications that change the iris pigmentation of a significant percentage of the people taking them, including some glaucoma medications*. But that change only goes one way, in making irises darker (blue, green, gray, and hazel eyes become brown; brown eyes become darker brown), and the percentage of people affected is far less than half.

So someone who is trying to change their eye color is better advised to use contact lenses, as others have already said.

*Latisse was originally developed as a glaucoma medication--the eyelash growth was a side effect!

Jersey Chick · Nov 5, 2011

True story - my eyes were blue until I was about 17 or so. Then they subtly changed. Now they're green. I don't know why or how, and I don't have any eye problems (aside from being far sighted), but they changed. I've been trying to change it on my driver's license since I was 21 (when my first renewal came up) because it still says blue. And each time I renew my license, Trenton gives me blue eyes.

Angela · Nov 5, 2011

Yep, contact lenses. You don't have to get a prescription for them anymore. My sister bought a pair that changes her eyes to purple. Her eyes are kind of freaky when she wears them, in a very pretty way! :ROFL:

Domino Derval · Nov 5, 2011

Jersey Chick said:
True story - my eyes were blue until I was about 17 or so. Then they subtly changed. Now they're green. I don't know why or how, and I don't have any eye problems (aside from being far sighted), but they changed. I've been trying to change it on my driver's license since I was 21 (when my first renewal came up) because it still says blue. And each time I renew my license, Trenton gives me blue eyes.

Mine did this from brown to hazel when I was in my teens as well. A little younger than you I think.

gotchan · Nov 5, 2011

Contacts.

That said, contacts are noticeable. Not to the passerby on the street, but to anyone querying the suspect. If you're standing two feet from someone and looking them in the eye as you ask for their identification papers, you will notice contacts.

Contacts are given away by:
The thickness of the lens is evident,
The outer edge of the colour doesn't follow the outer edge of the iris,
The inner edge of the colour doesn't follow the inner edge of the iris and does not dilate with the iris, either the part of the iris is uncoloured or part of the pupil is (a coloured pupil is noticeable in highlights),
The colour is flat, or
Variation in the colour does not match the underlying texture of the iris.

I've even seen people with teeny tiny writing in their eyes, "PRODUCT SAMPLE•DO NOT WEAR". Bottom line, coloured contacts will be obvious to anyone who actually looks rather than glances.

An example from my own experience:
Two people wear coloured contacts. One of them the eye colour on their ID does not match the visible eye colour. The other the listed eye colour does match. Which one has fake ID?

jjdebenedictis · Nov 5, 2011

Jersey Chick said:
True story - my eyes were blue until I was about 17 or so. Then they subtly changed. Now they're green. I don't know why or how...

Green eyes are really blue eyes (which have no pigment) overlaid with just a tiny bit of the pigmentation that makes brown eyes. It acts as a yellowish filter so the blue appears green.

They think hormonal changes (such as during puberty) can trigger this sort of thing, but it usually happens to people who started out with hazel eyes.

I once met a guy who had yellow eyes; they were the colour of egg yolks. He was a nice-enough fellow, but wow. Those eyes were creeeeepy.

NeuroFizz · Nov 6, 2011

A question for the story...if the 85%-15% population division involved some kind of warfare/antagonism and was recognizable based on eye color, AND you made eye color easy to change without a medical procedure, wouldn't the members of the minority group all change their eye color so they wouldn't be in such danger?

Matiasve · Nov 6, 2011

NeuroFizz said:
A question for the story...if the 85%-15% population division involved some kind of warfare/antagonism and was recognizable based on eye color, AND you made eye color easy to change without a medical procedure, wouldn't the members of the minority group all change their eye color so they wouldn't be in such danger?

Their used to be a 50-50 division.

However after their main capital was destroyed as the result of a lost battle, the division became something like 85-15.

But yes, what you said is true. That's something I need to solve.

At the moment I'm even considering making him blind himself

Archerbird · Nov 6, 2011

I don't think you can change your real eye colour on purpose without injuring something. :Shrug:

But maybe you can find more about it here:

Arcus senilis

Kayser–Fleischer ring

You also have the pseduo-science that is Iridology. Not what you asked for, but it might be useful.

Graz · Nov 6, 2011

On a TV program about prison inmates, two convicts injected ink into their eyes.

Archerbird · Nov 6, 2011

Graz said:
On a TV program about prison inmates, two convicts injected ink into their eyes.

You mean this? There's also this.

Soccer Mom · Nov 6, 2011

I'm going to shift this over to Story Research. Please keep your hands and feet inside the thread until it comes to a complete stop.

Buffysquirrel · Nov 7, 2011

I was reading in the New Scientist about a laser procedure that destroys melanin in the iris and can change brown eyes to blue, permanently. But for your character, contact lenses.

NewKidOldKid · Nov 8, 2011

Archerbird said:
I don't think you can change your real eye colour on purpose without injuring something.

But maybe you can find more about it here:

Arcus senilis

Kayser–Fleischer ring

You also have the pseduo-science that is Iridology. Not what you asked for, but it might be useful.

It might be possible, but it involves a medical procedure:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-15596885

GeorgeK · Nov 8, 2011

Wilson's Disease
Arcus Senilis

Lyra Jean · Nov 8, 2011

Couldn't extreme stress change eye color?
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2002/04/afghan-girl/index-text

I remember seeing the story on NatGeo about this girl and I thought they mentioned that her eyes changed color.

Graz · Nov 13, 2011

Archerbird said:
You mean this? There's also this.

I did.

Change eye-color without a medical procedure

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