A grandmother has endured a peculiar treatment to her eyes. The treatment consisted of having her eyes tattooed so the ink could act like sunglasses.

The woman from Swansea suffered from a form of glaucoma. After being advised to undergo laser eye surgery, she developed a side effect which made her eyes extremely sensitive to light. This side effect is predicted to occur to 1 person in every 1,000 after surgery.

Her eyesight got so sensitive that she couldn’t complete simple everyday tasks, like driving at night or watching TV.

For the next five years, she saw multiple consultants on how to combat the issue. After trialling different kinds of lenses, she was referred to ophthalmology consultant Mario Saldanha at Singleton Hospital in Swansea.

He then explained her eyes were receiving light twice, once through her pupils and the other through artificial openings the laser treatment had created.

Mr. Saldanha explained, “We used a tiny, precise scalpel to create a pocket in the centre of the cornea, over where she had the laser. We then put in a layer of tattoo ink and closed the pocket. ‘It’s like having a filter in the clear window of her eye but without affecting the coloured part, and retaining the artificial opening. It worked instantly.”

Sources:

1. Metro.

2. Walesonline.