Dilating Eye Drops & Your Eye Exam in Washington, DC
Atropine drops enable your eye doctor to examine your eyes more thoroughly and easily. These safe dilating eye drops contain medicine that enlarges your pupil, thereby providing a clear view of your inner eye tissues. We will insert the drops at the start of your eye exam in Washington, DC, and it takes approximately 20 – 40 minutes for them to take full effect.
How does eye dilation help?
When your pupil is dilated, your eye doctor can better examine your retina and the back of your eye to inspect for signs of ocular disease. This enables diagnoses to be more accurate, and it also helps to determine the most effective, precise treatments.
In addition, atropine drops relax the focusing muscles of your eyes. With kids in particular, this helps our eye doctor obtain a more accurate measurement of refractive error. This allows us to issue a precise vision prescription for nearsightedness or farsightedness.
Do dilating eye drops hurt?
Your eye doctor will place one or two atropine drops into the pouch of your lower eyelid. Any excess drops can be wiped away with a tissue. Immediately after the drops are inserted, you will probably experience mild stinging. Generally, this is very short-lived and passes within moments.
How long do atropine drops last?
Typically, drops used for eye dilation last from four to 24 hours. The duration depends upon the concentration of the drops and upon the individual patient. The effects are often longer lasting in people with light eyes; blue eyes are more sensitive to atropine drops than brown eyes.
Kids generally need stronger dilating eye drops. Therefore, a child’s eyes will sometimes stay dilated for longer than 24 hours.
Are there any side effects?
Atropine drops usually cause blurry near vision and light sensitivity during and after your eye exam in Washington, DC. These side effects will disappear gradually, and sunglasses are very helpful in the meantime. We recommend that you bring a pair of sunglasses to your appointment.
Following eye dilation, adults can return to work and children can return to school. However, teachers should be made aware that your kid will have blurred vision for reading. If you work with power tools or machinery, it’s wise to wait for the drops to wear off before heading back to the job.
Atropine drops can irritate your eyes if applied while you are wearing soft contact lenses. This is due to a preservative in the drops, which can be absorbed by your contacts. We advise you to remove your contact lenses before your comprehensive eye exam in Washington, DC.
It is rare for people to have an allergic reaction to atropine drops. Yet, if any allergic symptoms do occur, they may include a dry mouth, flushed face, rapid pulse, and fever.
Ask your Washington DC eye doctor about myopia control!