Many people on the Internet report that their eye color has changed. The experts however are divided and just as many answers can be found, from ‘Impossible, the color of the eyes is genetic’ to ‘The color of the eyes changes in some people depending on their mood’. So, which one is correct? Can people change their eye color?
When answering the question, it helps first to think about what influences the eye color. The eye color is determined by the pigment content of the iris tissue. If there is no pigment in the front area of the iris, the so-called stroma, that corresponds to the eye color blue. Newborns usually have no pigment in this area, so the eyes appear blue in most cases up to the first year of life. How the eye color then develops depends on several factors, including genes.
The pupil also plays a role
So is the eye color unchangeable after childhood? Not quite. The pigment density on the iris can change due to hormonal influences. Because of this, the eye color often changes before or around puberty. Inflammation could also lead to a decrease in pigmentation and thus brighten the eyes.
Curious claims are also circulating on the Internet according to which, for example, multiple personalities change the color of their eyes spontaneously. The experts usually wave it aside because such a rapid decrease or increase in pigmentation is generally not possible. But what can change in the short term is the pupil diameter. And that also has a certain influence on how light or dark the eye appears overall.
By the way, there are some drugs that can change the color of their eyes at will. The so-called Prostaglandins increase the pigmentation on the iris and the eye becomes darker. However, this is associated with an increase in eyelash growth. There are no active ingredients for a controlled decrease in pigmentation.
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If you are completely dissatisfied with the color of your eyes, you can fake pretty much any color with printed contact lenses. But the experts advise caution as, in addition to any deterioration in vision, the risk of infection from soft contact lenses must also be taken into account.