Surgically Implanted Eyeball Jewelry Fad, Popular in Europe, Lands in New York City
A popular European trend to wear surgically implanted jewelry on the eyeball hit New York City for the first time a few weeks ago when a 25-year-old woman had a platinum heart surgically implanted on her eyeball.
The American Academy of Ophthalmology, however, has voiced concern about the safety of the practice and is urging people to avoid the procedure, which has not been approved by the FDA.
"The American Academy of Ophthalmology has not identified sufficient evidence to support the safety or therapeutic value of this procedure," said the organization in a statement included in a recent ABC report on the practice.
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The officials warned in the report of complications such as blindness due to ocular infection or bleeding, bleeding beneath the conjunctiva, perforation of the eye and conjunctivitis.
According to 25-year-old Lucy Luckayanko, who had the first surgically implanted eyeball jewelry procedure done at the offices of Dr. Emil Chynn on Park Avenue in Manhattan, N.Y., she had no trouble and is enjoying her unique look.
"Oh, your eye is so shiny!" she said a man told her recently at a New York City nightclub.
"I've got platinum in my eye," she said she told him in her native Russian accent.
Dr. Chynn, she said, charged her $3,000 for the fashionable addition and it was a breeze for her.
"You don't feel anything," she said.
Chynn, according to ABC, is a laser vision correction specialist who placed the piece of jewelry on Chynn's eyeball after using a laser to slit the membrane covering the white of Luckayanko's eye. She didn't need any stitches after the procedure because the cut was so tiny.
Since Luckayanko's surgery, Chynn said about four more people have enquired about the procedure.
Both patient and doctor also argue that the procedure is safe and anyone who wants to do it has nothing to worry about.
"Tell these people I'm not going to lose my eyeball," Luckayanko said.
"It's not possible," Chynn said about the complications cited by critics. "My life would be better if people listened to me," he added.
