Why Do My Brown Eyes Have A Blue Ring Around Them?
– Blue rings around the iris are caused by cholesterol deposits in the eye. The deposits are actually white or yellowish but can appear blue. This might sound dangerous, but it isn’t. Researchers estimate that this condition impacts anywhere between 20 and 35 percent of people, becoming increasingly likely as you age.
Do all brown eyes have blue around them?
Story highlights – Blue eyes have long been associated with movie star good looks, but why they make hearts throb is open to conjecture An estimated 17% of the world’s population has blue eyes. The color is an illusion created by light refracting in clear eyes Stroma Medical has developed a laser system that agitates the pigmentation in irises to reveal the clear blue eyes underneath While the company says tests have shown the treatment to be safe, critics say that there may be a risk of developing glaucoma CNN — From the piercing blue eyes of Paul Newman to the steely gaze of Daniel Craig, blue eyes have always been a measure of attractiveness.
But exactly why they make hearts throb and catapult actors and models to stardom is a point of conjecture. Theories range from evolutionary psychologists who say that blue-eyed women in Palaeolithic societies had a better chance of standing out in the crowd, others posit that pupil dilation – a signifier of attraction – is easier to see in lighter eyes.
Either way, just 17% of the world’s population has blue eyes. For the majority of the world’s population – an estimated 80% – those elusive movie star eyes can usually only be obtained with the aid of colored contact lenses. But today there’s a medical procedure that can permanently turn your brown eyes blue.
Pioneered by Stroma Medical, the laser procedure works by eliminating the brown melanin that’s present in the anterior layers of the iris. “The fundamental principle is that under every brown eye is a blue eye,” Dr Gregg Homer told CNN, adding that there is no actual blue pigmentation in the eye. “The only difference between a brown eye and a blue eye is this very thin layer of pigment on the surface.
“If you take that pigment away, then the light can enter the stroma – the little fibers that look like bicycle spokes in a light eye – and when the light scatters it only reflects back the shortest wavelengths and that’s the blue end of the spectrum.” He said the effect is similar to the Rayleigh scattering of sunlight in the sky – the physics that makes our sky appear blue.
The company says it has developed a laser treatment that disrupts the layer of pigment, causing the body to begin removing the tissue naturally. While the procedure takes all of 20 seconds, the blue eyes lurking underneath do not emerge for several weeks. He said that Stroma Medical wanted to develop a procedure that was safer, cheaper and more convenient than any of the alternatives on the market.
While it has yet to get the green light from regulatory bodies in the United States, the company’s medical board has said that preliminary studies show the surgery is safe. So far, just 17 patients in Mexico and 20 in Costa Rica have undergone the treatment.
It’s difficult to work out a way to injure someone with this laser because the energy is so low,” he said. The laser treats only the iris and does not enter the pupil or treat any portion of the inside of the eye where the nerves affecting the vision are located. The company is still in the fundraising stage but hopes to have completed clinical trials within several years.
And the cost of turning your brown eyes blue? Dr Homer says Stroma Medical would charge around $5,000 (£3,120) for the procedure. Industry reaction to the process has been muted. Ophthalmologists who deal with people’s eyes, Homer concedes, have every right to be skeptical for the simple fact they are dealing with one of the most sensitive organs in the human body.
Saj Khan, an ophthalmologist at the London Eye Hospital, told CNN the treatment raised some red flags. ‘The main concern with any procedure that involves releasing pigment inside the eye is that the pigment can clog up the normal drainage channels which can in turn cause the pressure inside the eye to go up,” he said.
“If that happens significantly enough, for long enough, it’s how patients develop glaucoma.” He said that while Stroma Medical claims that the particles released by the process are too fine to cause glaucoma – and that any complications were likely to be short-term and easily remedied – a risk still remains.
“Theory has some sense to it, but without seeing long-term outcomes and without seeing patients that have been treated in this way I wouldn’t commit myself to it,” Khan said. In the meantime, Homer says there are no shortage of potential customers wanting to have the irreversible procedure. “It’s not a goal of our company to promote blue eyes,” he said.
“From my experience what most people are after is the translucence of the blue eye rather than the color of the blue eye. “The people who seem most vigilant about pursuing this always have a story about being young and in the presence of a sibling or a friend who had light eyes and the friend is being told how beautiful their eyes are and it sticks with them.
What do rings in brown eyes mean?
Kayser-Fleischer rings form when copper settles in your eyes, often when you have liver conditions or Wilson’s disease. They’re more difficult to see in darker eyes. Treatments include zinc and copper chelating agents. Appointments 216.444.2020.
Why do I have blue rings under my eyes?
What Does The Colour Under Your Eyes Mean? Dark circles are a common beauty problem, but not all under-eye circles are created equal. The color of your dark circles can help you decide what kind of treatment is most effective for your condition.
Purple Under-Eye Circles – Most commonly caused by pigmentation or a family trait, these kinds of dark circles are most commonly found in medium to dark-skin types.Treatment : Try a skin whitening cream containing retinol or antioxidants like vitamin C. An aesthetic physician can recommend a such as Fraxel to help decrease the dark pigment. Always use a high-UV protection sunscreen to prevent further darkening of the area. Blue Under-Eye Circles – This type of dark circles are commonly caused by lack of sleep or a stressful lifestyle. Allergies that affect the eyes and give you a stuffy nose can also add to bluish circles.Treatment: Bluish dark circles can go away quickly with proper rest and controlling your stress with exercise and meditation. If you have allergies, try to avoid the conditions that cause congestion and irritation to your eyes and nose, or try some allergy medication. Try antioxidant creams with active ingredients such as Coffeeberry extracts to improve circulation in the eye area. Gentle eye massage can also be effective to improve under-eye drainage. Brown Under-Eye Circles – Red or brown tinted dark circles are generally caused by aging or genetic factors, and are an effect of blood vessels showing through the thinning skin of the under-eye area. Fair-skinned people tend to have more translucent skin, which makes enlarged blood vessels show up clearly. Treatment: A retinol cream can help to improve the condition of your skin by increasing the collagen in the area. Your aesthetic physician can also help by using to plump up the area, disguising the red blood vessels beneath. A pulsed dye laser can also be beneficial by shrinking the blood vessels so they are no longer as visible.
Shadowed Under-Eye Circles – Shadowed under-eye areas are caused by aging or weight loss, and are a symptom of the loss of fat pads under the eyes. In this type, there is a visible valley or groove in the under-eye area between the eyes and the cheek fat. Treatment: Trying to treat this type of under-eye circle with creams is impossible, as no type of cream can make fat re-grow in the area. A quick solution is dermal fillers, which can quickly replace the lost volume under the skin.
Book an appointment with our Cosmetic Nurse Specialist on 9370 1997 to discuss how we can treat your under eyes. : What Does The Colour Under Your Eyes Mean?
Can brown eyes have a blue rim?
Some people with darker-colored eyes have bluish limbal rings that can remain quite visible, as well. There’s nothing you can do to stop your limbal rings from thinning out. The way that your limbal rings look as you age is related to your genetics.
Is a limbal ring rare?
– Almost everyone is born with limbal rings, but most people lose them as they age. Some people find limbal rings very attractive in a partner. Losing your limbal rings (or still having limbal rings into your 30s and beyond) doesn’t indicate any health condition, and it’s not a cause for concern.
Why do my brown eyes have a GREY ring around them?
A blue/white/gray arc or ring around the irises of your eyes is called arcus senilis if you’re 50 to 60 years old or older. It’s seen as a normal part of aging. If you’re younger and you have them, you should see your provider about possible underlying health conditions.
Overview Possible Causes Care and Treatment When to Call the Doctor Frequently Asked Questions
Arcus Senilis
Overview Possible Causes Care and Treatment When to Call the Doctor Frequently Asked Questions Back To Top
What is the blue ring around the eye called?
I have a grey ring around my iris. What is this? – Ask an Ophthalmologist
A ring of white and blue–Arcus If you’re over the age of 50, you may have noticed a faint to moderate white/blue ring around your cornea. This is known as arcus and is a normal age-related finding. Arcus does not impact the clarity of your vision or the comfort of your eyes.
It represents a gradual build-up of cholesterol. Patients over 50 years old with elevated cholesterol may be more likely to develop arcus, but those with arcus do not necessarily have elevated lipid levels. Essentially arcus is a routine finding that patients occasionally ask about. Due to the light color of arcus, patients with brown eyes are more easily able to detect this condition at home looking in a mirror.
If you have any questions or concerns about your eyes, schedule an exam today! We’ve been Mansfield’s trusted eye care providers for 30 years. : A ring of white and blue–Arcus
What is the ring around your eye called?
A limbal ring is a dark ring around the iris of the eye, where the sclera meets the cornea, It is a dark-colored manifestation of the corneal limbus resulting from optical properties of the region. The appearance and visibility of the limbal ring can be negatively affected by a variety of medical conditions concerning the peripheral cornea.
Are there different shades of brown eyes?
Do All Brown Eyes Look the Same? – Brown eyes come in a variety of shades: from light caramel-brown to dark, bordering on black. Lighter shades of brown are more common in the US and Europe, while darker hues are more prevalent in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Here are some examples of the various shades brown eyes can come in: 
Close up shot of woman eye with brown eyes 
Close up picture of a woman with brown eyes
Does everyone have brown eyes underneath?
Story highlights – All human eyes are brown at their core, due to the presence of melanin Varying levels of the pigment melanin determine how much light is reflected CNN — When you’re next staring deep into the eyes of your partner, the moment may soon be ruined by the knowledge that, regardless of whether these windows to their soul appear piercingly blue or a shimmering green, the reality is that they are brown.
- That’s right.
- All human eyes are brown.
- As the owner of a sparkling set of deep brown eyes, I see no disappointment in the knowledge that all human eyes are in fact a wonderful shade of brown, but for anyone feeling misled or confused, a mix of biology and physics should help explain this reality.
- It all comes down to the presence of the pigment melanin, also found in skin and hair, within your eye’s iris – the colored part that surrounds the pupil.
“Everyone has melanin in the iris of their eye, and the amount that they have determines their eye color,” said Dr. Gary Heiting, a licensed optometrist and senior editor of the eye care website All About Vision, “There’s really only (this) one type of pigment.” Melanin – made up of melanocyte cells – is naturally dark brown in color but has the ability to absorb different amounts of light, depending on how much of it there is.
- The more melanin inside the iris, the more light is absorbed, meaning less light is reflected out, leaving the iris appearing brown.
- But when someone has blue eyes, they have less melanin in their iris, resulting in less light being absorbed and more light reflecting, or scattering, back out.
- When this light is scattered, it reflects at shorter wavelengths along the blue end of the light color spectrum – leaving you seeing blue.
Green and hazel eyes are somewhere in the middle, with differing quantities of melanin resulting in different levels of light absorption and therefore different colors reflecting out. Hazel is considered a mixture of eye colors, according to Heiting. Different light settings can also make some eyes appear to change color depending on where the person is standing. 
“It’s an interaction between the amount of melanin and the architecture of the iris itself,” added Heiting. “It’s a very complex architecture.” This part of the eye is therefore unique to most individuals and can act as something like a fingerprint, due to the existence of various textures and patterns.
- Blue eyes have the least amount of pigment of all eye colors.
- When babies are born, their eyes may sometimes appear blue early on, while their melanin is still forming.
- Their eye color may then darken as they develop.
- As a baby develops, more melanin accumulates in the iris,” said Heiting.
- Like skin color, one theory behind the evolution of eye color is the migration of our early ancestors toward cooler parts of the world.
While high levels of melanin – in eyes, hair, and skin – help protect people in hotter climates, like Africa, from UV radiation, the need for the protective pigment decreases as people move to locations with less sun. “There was less need for all that melanin,” Heiting said.
- Another theory conceived by professor Hans Eiberg at the University of Copenhagen was that a mutation once switched off the ability of someone’s eye to produce melanin.
- This would lead to light eyes in the affected individual; their rarity may have made them more attractive and aided their natural selection within the population.
In one study, he analyzed genes for eye color and identified what he believed to be a common mutation causing blue eye color. “It’s believed that’s how blue eyes came about, but it may just be the de-emphasis on the need for all the melanin,” Heiting said.
- It’s long been believed that if someone has brown eyes – or what appear to be brown eyes – their chances of having a child with lighter eyes are slim.
- Following suit is the theory that two people with blue eyes will automatically have a child with blue eyes due to the gene being recessive, rather than dominant.
But this is also not quite true.
What is the rarest possible eye color?
Green Eyes – Green is considered by some to be the actual rarest eye color in the world, though others would say it’s been dethroned by red, violet, and grey eyes. 
Green eyes don’t possess a lot of melanin, which creates a Rayleigh scattering effect: Light gets reflected and scattered by the eyes instead of absorbed by pigment. This effect makes the eyes look green, but they don’t actually have green pigmentation.