Iris is getting her eye color changed today.
She is 40, an engineer, and anxious, almost shaking.
And all it costs is 20 minutes and $12,000 dollars.
Sarah Krick/Gallery Stock
Im going for an Alaskan-husky pop in of color, Iris told me.
(Thats not her real namecan you imagine if it was?)
She wants her gaze to be visible from a distance.
A before (left) and after of a Kerato patient who opted for the shade “Honey.”
A doctor in his native Russia, Dr. Movshovich moved to the United States some four decades ago.
Complicated cases of cataracts and stuff like that, he explained, in a Russian accent.
My life is very much research.
A Kerato patient who went from brown to “French Blue.”
After 30 years of research, he became interested in trying something new.
In 2019, he opened Kerato.
A before (left) and after of a Kerato patient who opted for the shade Honey.
This Kerato patient selected “Olive Green."
Until recently, eye color change could be achieved in one of a few imperfect ways.
Nor has anything elseincluding KTP.
He performed the first cosmetic KTP procedure in 1999, he says.
Another example of a Kerato patient who opted for the shade “Olive Green.”
In asubsequent studyof 40 patients, about a third reported some light sensitivity.
A Kerato patient who went from brown to French Blue.
In America, everything is FDA questioned, Movshovich said.
You need some guts, and enough research to not be scared to do it.
In America, everything is FDA questioned.
You need some guts, and enough research to not be scared to do it.
While keratopigmentation may be considered ‘safer’ than other cosmetic options, none of them are truly safe.
She also points to the possibility of an allergic reaction to the pigments.
Others in the greater ophthalmology community pointed to the procedures permanence as reason enough for concern.
If a patient doesnt like the result, can the pigment in the corneal tunnel be washed out?
wonderedKevin Miller, MD, a professor of clinical ophthalmology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.
In other words, is it reversible?
If not, he declines to perform the procedure.
Dr. Alio turned his eyes brown, softening his gaze.
This Kerato patient selected Olive Green."
Dr. Movshovich charges $12,000, about 50 years worth of dailies.
The colors can be adjusted for intensity, though Dr. Movshovich prefers not to honor some requests.
Some people want to be dragons, he said, seeming bemused.
Eighty percent, he estimates, also have veneers.
KTP is about as uncomfortable as Lasik, with patients reporting a pressure sensation, but its relatively painless.
While their eyes adjust, Dr. Moshovich is onto the next pair.
Less than a block away from Dr. Moshovichs office standsManhattan Lasik Center, the East Coasts other KTP clinic.
The two have developed a rivalry on the permanent eye color change vanguard.
This procedure makes a significant difference in ones self-image, self-perception, and self-confidence, Dr. Niksarli told me.
In our practice, we do not take the psychological aspect lightly.
Dr. Niksarli was last board-certified in ophthalmology in 1999.
He estimates that he has now done just under 1,000 KTP cases.
We’re getting very popular nowadays, he said.
People are very, very happy with the results.
About a fourth of Dr. Niksarlis patient base has already undergone some refractive surgery, like Lasik.
80% of patients also have veneers.
Dr. Niksarli says, well, not exactly.
If they’re not happy with the initial color, we can deviate from that.
And we’ve done that several times, he explained.
But it becomes a matter of mixology.
A more substantial change could be achieved by digging a second KTP channel that is shallower than the first.
There is a bit of flexibility there, he said.
Whether itshouldbe achieved is another matter, as repeated surgeries can increase ones risk for complications.
Manhattan Lasik Center has made KTP available at four locations throughout the greater New York area.
Dr. Movshovich is thinking of expanding Kerato to Miami, maybe Boston.
Another example of a Kerato patient who opted for the shade Olive Green.
Im scared of lasers, she admitted.
Some days shell come to the office to chat with patients and take photos for Keratos social media pages.
Iris eyes are done before we can finish our conversation.
I’d like to see what I look like with makeup now!
She hasnt told her friends or family about her trip to Kerato.
I want them to be like, Oh,wow.
I never say this, she told Iris, but I like it more than your old color.
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