Dilatation

08 Feb Dilatation

Pupils are the round, black openings at the center of the iris (the colored part of your eye). The iris opens and closes the pupil to allow more or less light into the eye.
For the retina specialist to look inside the eyes, pupils must be dilated (widened). Dilating eye drops enlarge the pupils and keep them from getting smaller even when light is shined in the eyes.

What to Expect When Your Eyes Are Dilated

Before every complete examination of the retina, pupils will need to be dialted. A small amount of dilating eye drops are put into each eye. It usually takes about 30 to 40 minutes for the pupils to fully open.

Once dilated, the vision becomes blurry. There will be trouble focusing on close objects like the mobile screens. Also there will be extra sensitivity to bright light after leaving the clinic. Wearing sunglasses can help with the glare.

The effects of dilating eye drops last a few hours. The amount of bluring of vision and its duration depends on how the eyes react and is variable. It is not safe to drive with the eyes dilated.