Eye catching! Delhi tattoo artist gets his eyeballs tattooed

It may seem like a script from a science fiction movie but it is anything but. A tattoo artist in Delhi got his eyeballs permanently tattooed to black, to match with his full body suit. And though the Tattoographer Karan (he goes only by one name) claims that it does not involve risks and is just a way to look and feel different, the medical fraternity is up in arms at his seemingly irresponsible attitude.    

Ask the tattoographer just why he wanted to get this done, he retorts that it had been a dream of his for some time now. “I always wanted to get something like this done and thus made sure that I get it done from the person who invented eyeball tattooing a decade back — Howard Smith. Because as a tattoo artist, my eyes are very important to me,” he adds.

Recommending the treatment to anyone who wants to try something different,  Karan say that he can personally vouch for its safety.    

“I started tattooing almost 12 years back and in all these years have got recognition in the country and abroad for my safe and innovative techniques. My work has got me accolades in the ‘Guinness Book of World Records’ for making the maximum tattoo flags on someone,” he says.

Karan, 28, started tattooing when he was 16 and has been doing this ever since. Though confirms that tattooing is not registered as a profession in India and there has never been any study on the risks involved in eyeball tattooing, he believes that his experience of working as a tattoo artist for over a decade came in handy for taking a decision like this.

But the medical fraternity isn’t impressed. Most doctors DNA spoke to were horrified at the idea “In all my career, I have never heard of anything like this. I did not even know that something like this exists and that people are crazy enough to get it done. I cannot really comment on the risks involved,” says Dr Atul Kumar, Head of Ophthalmology Department, AIIMS.

“This is nothing but a type of quackery. These people use needles/syringes to risky parts only to look different without consulting medical practitioners.”

The eyeball permanent tattooing (also known as Sclera Staining) is done through needles and leaves the pupil swollen for a week to ten days, just like any other regular tattoo. The ink is then injected through a syringe in the Sclera, the white portion of the eye.

But there have been risks reported with the procedure. In a recent case, a 24-year-old Canadian woman tried Sclera Staining, which caused eye-infection. Now doctors have warned her that she is at a risk of losing her vision permanently. After this, medical experts in New Zealand have asked for a strict ban on Sclera Staining.

SIMILAR CASE

• A 24-year-old Canadian woman tried Sclera Staining, which caused eye-infection.
   
• Doctors have warned her that she is at a risk of losing her vision.
   
• Medical experts in New Zealand have asked for a strict ban on it