Warning: This entry documents a highly experimental procedure that should not be emulated. Follow-up entries will document healing and complications — which to be very clear for those considering this, can in theory include permanent blindness!
Yesterday, just after BMEfest and just before ModProm, we did the rather stress-inducing experiment of doing the first three “eyeball tattooing” experiments on sighted eyes. The procedures were done by Howie (LunaCobra.net), with photos by Lane Jensen (of Tattoo and Piercing Magazine). The first procedure was done on Pauly Unstoppable using a traditional hand-poked technique. The eye distorted significantly but it was difficult to get ink to hold. Probably about forty strikes in all were done but so far it seems like limited ink held.
Because the we had trouble getting the ink under the surface (and were able to “wash” it out of the small needle incisions), we tried the second procedure, on Josh using a 29ga needle and syringe, thinning down the ink very slightly with an antibiotic eyewash. Since the goal was simply to blanket the white of the eye in color, there wasn’t a need for fine detail. The first injection was shallow and appeared to dissipate on the surface, but the second injection was at the perfect level and formed a dark bubble of ink just over the sclera (in the third picture you can see some of the ink running back out of the injection hole).
Finally, we did my eye, using the injection method as well although this time with a 28ga needle. It is extremely difficult to precisely get the needle into the right layer. In my case the first one appears to be slightly shallow, with the second injection potentially entering the sclera itself (so basically there’s a bubble of ink in too deep a layer, although it appears to be surfacing).
The procedures themselves were effectively painless because there aren’t nerve endings in the surface of the eye, and we did additional control with lidocaine drops which numbed the lids. After pain is fairly minor, although we all have bruising and some discomfort. I have what appears to almost be blistering between the sclera and conjunctiva which is worrying me a little but so far I don’t have reason to believe this is abnormal. Aftercare, at least in my case, is antibiotic drops and a patch.
In any case, we’ll keep you updated!
I really have to emphasize again that the procedure was extensively researched and done by people who were aware of the risks and possible complications and that it should not be casually attempted. Now that this experiment has been started, please wait for us to either heal or go blind before trying it!
Edit: Since a few folks have asked “what are they supposed to be”, let me answer: they’re not supposed to look like anything. They’re experiments to see how to apply the ink and how it heals. In my case the goal is to eventually fully fill in the white of the eye with blue.
Comments
197 responses to “Three blind mice”
This is something that I have been interested in for better than a decade. My influence probably comes from cyberpunk fiction, and the idea of replacing as much of my meat with machine as is possible. (Which is to say none, given the current functional level of cybernetics.) Personally, I love the idea of having eyes that are a solid, featureless black (…which would require black contacts, as tattooing the iris would certainly impair vision or cause outright blindness).
About three years ago I asked my eye doctor about changing the color of my sclera. I had been thinking about a temporary dye that would pigment the surface, but would eventually be sloughed off. He suggested tattooing as a possibility, saying that it had certainly been done successfully before. This brings up two points. First, my desire to change the appearance of my eyes predated my knowledge that a permanent change of this type was possibile or feasible. My desire wasn’t to be the most extreme person around, but to feel happy and comfortable with my own appearance. Second, having my opthamologist suggest tattooing as even a possibility leads me to believe that, under carefully controlled circumstances, this is not necessarily a proceedure that is significantly more dangerous than other eye surgeries. (By carefully controlled, I mean allergy/bioreactivity tests on the inks, supervision by an opthamologist, fully sterile conditions, etc. ad infinatum, as you would find in an operating theater.)
This, however, is where my threshold for personal risk lies. I do not believe that I would be willing to do it outside of a medical setting, provided that I had such an approach open to me. If such an option never becomes available, I would consider choosing as Pauly, Josh and Shannon. I would also like to hear of the long term results, like blowout, ink migration, fading, vision distortion/loss before making a decision like this.
But in the end, you pays yer money and you takes per chances. Every day that I get on my bike to ride to school could be my last if a rush hour driver blows a red light. Personally, I say do what makes you happy as long as you aren’t causing harm to come to other people.
Are you folks so insecure that you can’t be happy with the beautiful body that God gave you? Are you willing to risk your very eyesight in order to make some idiot statement? Do you plan someday to go to work and make a living? Will you need your eyes to do that? Or will someone else be supporting you for the rest of your lives? Some of your more sane friends are overseas trying to protect your freedom to do and say whatever you please, and this is all that you can contribute?
I did a Google search and literally the first hit that came back contained this product, http://9mmsfx.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=9SE&Product_Code=BS4&Category_Code=SL1 , a full eye blue sclera contact lens. So I guess my question is, since a viable and probably safer alternative exists — and one that is arguably going to produce better-looking and more reliable results — why tattooing over contacts?
I’ve seen this lady with a tattooed eyeball about three years ago. I was at my material supplier and this lady walked in to complain about some inks she bought there. After some talking we’ve all realized that there was nothing wrong with those inks. Turns out this lady was blind from one eye, the eye was almost completely white, and her plastic surgeon(aka butcher) told her that instead of wearing a color contact lens on that eye she should have it tattoed! And de “surgeon” did it himself. I wish I had a picture of the poor lady’s eye…Imagine a water color painting of an eye and then spilling some water over it. It looked like it was all smudged or cried out…on the inside! Can’t explain it by words. All of this to say that I think the ink will not last to long on the eye.
If it works you will look like a SPICE junkie from DUNE!!!
That might be cool.
Good luck with the not going blind thing!
Think of how stupid the average person is, and then realize that half of them are stupider than that.
This is retarded. I hope you don’t go blind. I would assume that you probably masturbate alot, so going blind may not be too far away.
I have no theoretical objections against this procedure, in fact it’s pretty fascinating.
In “DUNE” constant use of the spice made one’s sclera and pupil blue, so the fremen, the pilots, and the rest of the people who used the spice for foretelling all had solid blue eyes. Remember the bad movie and the great books? It’s good to see at least one person (Ryan) does. But I’d rather do mine like a cat’s.
Speaking of which, I have major nearsightedness and I’m not having anything done to my preceious eyes until it’s been done on thousands of others for 10 years and we know what the long-term effects and the possible side effects are. I’m still wearing glasses! And especially if it’s not medically necessary, my eyes will stay the green and mostly-white I was born with.
Omg!!! this is nuts, I will deffinitly be following this one. I Just tried to poke my eye ball with my fingernail, and OWIE, I don’t see how a needle would be better. eek
i definately want to get that done if everything goes well, i’ll be following up on the info to see how everything goes. thanx to everyone who has the balls to experiment on themselves and tell everyone about it.
why the fuck would you risk your eye your sight… your regular life your… well being your everything on aaa blue spoldnge on your eye fucking dumb ass who ever you are that isnt being personal or being rebelious or original at all it is just being ignorant and not having any respect for your well being or health
Any updates on this if they are ok or did they go blind?
Rudeboy – Everyone’s doing fine.
Holy cow!!!!
A lot of risk, and so far, for rather lettle obtained effect. The staining result is obviously poor. Yes getting “Dune-colors” safely would be nice, so far I see extreme risk with little success. I hope you goys will succeed – and I hope really, nobody of you will pay these experiments by loosing his sight.
I personally doubt that the risk / value calculation is on a good side.
PS.: No. 172, “Frank”, you are one of the most funny guys at all. And believe me, you are an extermist, a really dangerous one. So go burning witches (or fighting for oil) and leave decent people alone.
I’m really interested in getting my eyes tattooed. I just want to make my blue eyes bluer, is that possible? I know it’s painfull ya ya been there done that but seriously where do I go and how much does it cost?
Elizabeth, just get coloured contacts.
I would like to try this procedure, is there somebody I can contact?
I would like to see the finished tattoo. Like after it is healed and everything someone should put a pic up
I am a surgical technician and I work in an big mid-western eye hospital. I see people everyday in surgery, many of whom are in a desperate struggle to maintain the small amount of eyesight they have remaining. It makes me cringe to see people doing something so reckless. I would like to know if any of the participants in this experiment consulted with an actual ophthalmologist before going ahead. After reading some of the comments, it is clear that many people don’t even have a basic understanding of eye anatomy, (examples: Can I tattoo my blue eyes so they are more blue? No you can’t because the colored part of the eye, the iris, is inside the anterior chamber behind your cornea. This means that you would have to enter the anterior chamber of your eye and somehow inject dye into the individual muscle fibers that make up your iris. / Getting “Dune colors” would be nice, but…this is unlikely to work well, especially on young people’s eyes because of the tenon layer. This is a connective tissue layer that lies just beneath the conjunctiva holding it to the white sclera. Young people have lots of tenons and they would prevent the dye from flowing freely under the conjunctiva. / The surface of the eye doesn’t have nerve endings…This is absolutely NOT true; everyone knows what it feels like to get sand or dust in their eye. The conjunctiva layer has lots of nerves as does the cornea. Anyone who has had a corneal abrasion can attest to this.)Okay, I’m starting to feel like a lecturing ass now and that was really not my intention. Eyesight is precious and very very complicated. Please be careful and fully informed. Wikepedia has some pretty good info.
no, please no! that hurts! autsch. It looks absolutely crazy!
While Dune eyes would be quite startling nothing could ever persuade me to tattoo my eyes. I have retinitis pigmentosa so I’m already going blind. I find it hard to believe anyone would risk their vision for a visual effect. My condition means I can’t work or drive, I can’t see in the dark/night, I can’t see when it’s sunny unless I have 90% polarized sunglasses (and because of my problems with glare I can’t look at white webpages too long either). I’m always bruised and scabbed from tripping over things and walking into things. I can’t play sports or even go to the cinema because the widescreens means I can’t see everything that’s going on (RP sufferers have tunnel vision too). Vision plays a HUGE part of a person’s life and the more it deteriorates the smaller the world becomes.
While I have a (grudging) admiration for these guys I want to say this: If the effect lasts and if the procedure becomes routine please, please don’t have it done without considering what you stand to lose.
Well, Lol to you guys. Not being an ass, but you are doing something that happened to me naturally. While my eye isn’t blue, i do have a purple spiral around one eye. I have had this since birth but didn’t notice it until several years ago. This is caused by having a thin sclera, (or so I have been told), and I’ve always been kinda proud of it, making me different than most people. (Thin sclera’s are common, but only on very small scales, and usually only is a dot.) While I find the procedure cool and interesting, it does hurt a little inside that I might not be the only one for much longer. (seriously, you know spirals are going to be popular.) 🙁
This is now more than 7 months old. I would hope the people who got everyone so interested in this story, would have be kind enough and decent enough, to post new pictures of the eye, and what he experienced over the last 6 months. If you were not going to follow up on this story, why start it. Or did he go blind…
Would you please, after all this time, post new, updated pictures and tell us how everything went… that is, unless something went wrong and now your somehow embarrassed.
OMG. How can anyone do that to themselves. yikes..
Here is footage of an eyeball tattoo.
http://media.revver.com/qt;sharer=32641/750722.mov
Any updates? I want to get this done with UV ink!
now that would be trippy. unseen in the real woeld but freak out under black light. Is anybody doing this? email me with info at [email protected]
hi im a tattoo artist from scotland after seeing your experemant i thought f**k it and tryed it on my self using just a 8 coil wrap gun and a round 3 liner needle and i tattooed blood shot lines on the white of my eyes. the ink took ok to my eye’s and it took about 2 weeks to heal. all in all i didnt go blind and it looks awsome.
что касается темы, то мне кажется актуальность будет известна только через некоторое время
OMG that is beautiful!!!
I plan on doing this *blue* and then getting a eye jewel *heart or music note* in the lower parts of my outer eye. It’s so pretty ^_^
I’m so proud of you for being the experiment, that takes real guts ^_^
Thanks so much
Fucking crazy
Any chance of photo getting posted of the end result?
why wouldent you try it with a cows eye first i mean schools get them for the science fair why cant you test it ? i just mean to try and find the pirfect depth and then maybe test a person?
wtf is wrong with you people? this is insane, stupid, weird and pointless.
mommy issues?
Very cool. It’s nice to see people pushing the boundaries of what can be done. I also really like picture of Shannon’s eye being stuck with the needle. That picture should be in an art galley somewhere.
Dunno if this is already posted or if anyone will even read this so long after – but Congrats to Josh who made it onto a Japanese TV show with this tattoo xD
I saw it on Youtube – the show is called ‘The Best House 123′ and its from April 15 2009
They look AWESOME 😀
WHY!?!?! JUST WHY?!
So, what’s the update?
Are the piercees fine and seeing well?
Pics pls!
Eyes are our most valuable organ….don’t let anybody do this do your eyes….in a year no one really knows what effect it could have….then getting it removed???? Give me a break.
hmmm….i mean i’d be cool to get dune eyes but i’d have to say i’d only do it with a surgeon with proper tools and a sterilized hypothermic needles and other things. just wondering though hows the eye now and thanks for testing this out so maybe in 10 years we could do this under labratory conditions
i have yellow eyes from birth due to sickel cell disease.
I HATE IT especialy the yellow eyw part im always geting picked on and noticed. i was wondering if there was any way i could tattoo my eyes white….so i can be normal. does ny one know?
I think I’m gonna be sick…
Retinal Detachment here we come!
First:
I would like to respond to yellrfella. I would not recomend tattooing your eyes white if you have sickel cell. Your red blood cells are shaped in a manner that causes them to get stuck in your capillaries and there is always a risk of blood clotting issues when a surgical proceedure is done. Having a blood clot in your eye could lead to a cariovascular accident, or stroke in laymans terms.
Second:
Please realize that this “expiriment” does not follow the rigorous guidlines that would be expected of any new surgical proceedure. Most Clinical experiments contain several hundered participants as a representative sample of the population and licensed medical doctors. The way one person’s body deals with the ink may not be the way other people’s bodies will respond. Think about the dangers of serious infection and hemorrhage that could lead to tissue death in and arround the brain. I would recomend waiting for more reliable studies to be done than what happens to a couple of individuals.
Ok, several things here.
Molex, Sean, and Giles, I completely agree with you guys. I can understand each person can modify their own body if they so choose, but the risks of such a thing? I mean, my vision is such that without glasses or anything, I can’t see past my own nose. I cannot imagine having to go blind.
BT Makin Time-post #103 I believe- while you do have a few points, wikipedia is not the best resource, a medical journal or website would have been better, if you wanted to have a strong supporting resource.
To those who want this procedure and those who did it: I confess, I do not understand. I know you seek beauty and your body is rightfully yours to paint, pierce, or decorate as you please, so don’t get me wrong, I have nothing personal against you. However, Why would you risk your eyesight? For one, you won’t be able to look on and appreciate the art you have on your body or eyes and even appreciate any new additions, would that not defeat the purpose? and if for some reason you don’t want it or things go wrong, you can’t reverse it like full eye colored contacts.
On a final note- i have no evidence or real ability to critiscize or judge but for AngelOfBetrayal- how old are you? I must ask, because, I could be totally wrong, and if so- I apologize, but you write and express your desire for eye modifications in such a manner that makes you seem not yet fully mature or old enough to understand the risks.
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Theres a shop in Kennewick Washington called Sick Azz Tattoos that does this. The guys email is [email protected]