Scleral tattooing is the practice of tattooing the sclera, or white part, of the human eye. Rather than being injected into the tissue, the dye is injected between two layers of the eye, then gradually spreads. The process remains uncommon due to professionals' discomfort performing the procedure [1] and is illegal in the American states Oklahoma and Indiana and the Canadian provinces Ontario and Saskatchewan. [2] [3] [4] [5]
Writer and artist Shannon Larratt photoshopped his eyes in a photo to look like the blue eyes of the Fremen in Frank Herbert's novel Dune . Inspired by his then-wife's eye implant surgery, [6] he reached out to Howie "Luna Cobra" Rollins to devise a method to color his eyes permanently blue. Cobra agreed to attempt the procedure if Larratt could find two other volunteers. Larratt recruited Joshua Matthew Rahn and Paul "Pauly Unstoppable" Mowery (now known as Farrah Flawless). [7] [8] [9] As of March 2013, both Rahn and Larratt have died of causes unrelated to the procedure (murder and tubular aggregate myopathy, respectively), making Farrah Flawless the person who has had scleral tattoos for the longest period of time in the world. [10]
Cobra initially attempted a procedure that involved covering the needle with ink and then puncturing the eye but deemed it unsuccessful. The technique he used during the procedure, injecting the sclera with blue dye, is similar to an established method practiced by surgeons who install eye implants. [11] Larratt's wife Rachel underwent a procedure where the surgeon injected small drops of saline to create a fluid-filled pocket between the conjunctiva and the sclera, where he inserted a thin piece of platinum jewelry. The saline eventually dissipated and left only the jewelry behind. [12] Larratt called Cobra's procedure "effectively painless because there aren't nerve endings in the surface of the eye" and claimed that the after-effects included minor pain, bruising, discomfort, and mild blistering between the sclera and conjunctiva.
In a 2007 Body Modification Ezine article, Larratt discussed the risks and possible complications of the procedure, including blindness, and said it should never be performed without a professional. He also stressed that scleral tattooing is still a new body modification and potential long-term effects have not yet been measured.
 | The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. The specific issue is: it seems unlikely that only the US and Canada would have passed legislation(March 2023) |
In 2009, the Oklahoma Senate passed Bill 844, filed by Senator Cliff Branan, to make scleral tattooing illegal. This bill was supported by the Oklahoma Academy of Ophthalmology. [13] [4] [14] In 2018, Indiana became the second state to outlaw this procedure; a $10,000 fine was set for violators. [5] In Canada, Ontario (February 2017) and Saskatchewan (January 2020) have banned both scleral tattooing and the implantation of eye jewelry under the conjunctiva. [3] [2] [15]
The sclera, also known as the white of the eye or, in older literature, as the tunica albuginea oculi, is the opaque, fibrous, protective outer layer of the eye containing mainly collagen and some crucial elastic fiber.
Vitrectomy is a surgery to remove some or all of the vitreous humor from the eye.
Eye surgery, also known as ophthalmic surgery or ocular surgery, is surgery performed on the eye or its adnexa. Eye surgery is part of ophthalmology and is performed by an ophthalmologist or eye surgeon. The eye is a fragile organ, and requires due care before, during, and after a surgical procedure to minimize or prevent further damage. An eye surgeon is responsible for selecting the appropriate surgical procedure for the patient, and for taking the necessary safety precautions. Mentions of eye surgery can be found in several ancient texts dating back as early as 1800 BC, with cataract treatment starting in the fifth century BC. It continues to be a widely practiced class of surgery, with various techniques having been developed for treating eye problems.
Retinal detachment is a disorder of the eye in which the retina peels away from its underlying layer of support tissue. Initial detachment may be localized, but without rapid treatment the entire retina may detach, leading to vision loss and blindness. It is a surgical emergency.
An ear-piercing instrument is a device designed to pierce earlobes by driving a pointed starter stud through the lobe. Piercing guns are typically used for ear piercing in mall jewelry shops, beauty salons, pharmacies, and doctors' offices.
Enucleation is the removal of the eye that leaves the eye muscles and remaining orbital contents intact. This type of ocular surgery is indicated for a number of ocular tumors, in eyes that have sustained severe trauma, and in eyes that are otherwise blind and painful.
An extraocular implant is a cosmetic implant involving a tiny piece of decorative jewelry which is implanted within the superficial, interpalpebral conjunctiva or sclera of the human eye.
Trabeculectomy is a surgical procedure used in the treatment of glaucoma to relieve intraocular pressure by removing part of the eye's trabecular meshwork and adjacent structures. It is the most common glaucoma surgery performed and allows drainage of aqueous humor from within the eye to underneath the conjunctiva where it is absorbed. This outpatient procedure was most commonly performed under monitored anesthesia care using a retrobulbar block or peribulbar block or a combination of topical and subtenon anesthesia. Due to the higher risks associated with bulbar blocks, topical analgesia with mild sedation is becoming more common. Rarely general anesthesia will be used, in patients with an inability to cooperate during surgery.
Glaucoma is a group of diseases affecting the optic nerve that results in vision loss and is frequently characterized by raised intraocular pressure (IOP). There are many glaucoma surgeries, and variations or combinations of those surgeries, that facilitate the escape of excess aqueous humor from the eye to lower intraocular pressure, and a few that lower IOP by decreasing the production of aqueous humor.
An ocular prosthesis, artificial eye or glass eye is a type of craniofacial prosthesis that replaces an absent natural eye following an enucleation, evisceration, or orbital exenteration. The prosthesis fits over an orbital implant and under the eyelids. Though often referred to as a glass eye, the ocular prosthesis roughly takes the shape of a convex shell and is made of medical grade plastic acrylic. A few ocular prostheses today are made of cryolite glass. A variant of the ocular prosthesis is a very thin hard shell known as a scleral shell which can be worn over a damaged or eviscerated eye. Makers of ocular prosthetics are known as ocularists. An ocular prosthesis does not provide vision; this would be a visual prosthesis. Someone with an ocular prosthesis is altogether blind on the affected side and has monocular vision.
Corneal tattooing is the practice of tattooing the cornea of the human eye. Reasons for this practice include improvement of cosmetic appearance and the improvement of sight. Many different methods and procedures exist today, and there are varying opinions concerning the safety or success of this practice.
In body modification, an implant is a device that is placed under the human skin for decorative purposes. Such implants may be subdermal or transdermal. In the context of body modification, some may consider injections of silicone and other substances a type of implant as well.
A pterygium is any wing-like triangular membrane occurring in the neck, eyes, knees, elbows, ankles or digits.
Scleral reinforcement is a surgical procedure used to reduce or stop further macular damage caused by high myopia, which can be degenerative.
Conjunctivochalasis, also known as mechanical dry eye (MDE), is a common eye surface condition characterized by the presence of excess folds of the conjunctiva located between the globe of the eye and the eyelid margin.
In ophthalmology, glued intraocular lens or glued IOL is a surgical technique for implantation, with the use of biological glue, of a posterior chamber IOL in eyes with deficient or absent posterior capsules. A quick-acting surgical fibrin sealant derived from human blood plasma, with both hemostatic and adhesive properties, is used.
Intraocular lens scaffold, or IOL scaffold technique, is a surgical procedure in ophthalmology. In cases where the posterior lens capsule is ruptured and the cataract is present, an intraocular lens (IOL) can be inserted under the cataract. The IOL acts as a scaffold, and prevents the cataract pieces from falling to the back of the eye. The cataract can then be safely removed by emulsifying it with ultrasound and aspiration. This technique is called IOL scaffold, and was initiated by Amar Agarwal at Dr. Agarwal's Eye Hospital in Chennai, India.
Cyclodestruction or cycloablation is a surgical procedure done in management of glaucoma. Cyclodestruction reduces intraocular pressure (IOP) of the eye by decreasing production of aqueous humor by the destruction of ciliary body. Until the development of safer and less destructive techniques like micropulse diode cyclophotocoagulation and endocyclophotocoagulation, cyclodestructive surgeries were mainly done in refractory glaucoma, or advanced glaucomatous eyes with poor visual prognosis.
Manual small incision cataract surgery (MSICS) is an evolution of extracapsular cataract extraction (ECCE); the lens is removed from the eye through a self-sealing scleral tunnel wound. A well-constructed scleral tunnel is held closed by internal pressure, is watertight, and does not require suturing. The wound is relatively smaller than that in ECCE but is still markedly larger than a phacoemulsification wound. Comparative trials of MSICS against phaco in dense cataracts have found no statistically significant difference in outcomes but MSICS had shorter operating times and significantly lower costs. MSICS has become the method of choice in the developing world because it provides high-quality outcomes with less surgically induced astigmatism than ECCE, no suture-related problems, quick rehabilitation, and fewer post-operative visits. MSICS is easy and fast to learn for the surgeon, cost effective, simple, and applicable to almost all types of cataract.