My 3 year old son had his eyes examined last Monday (week ago yesterday) and his pupils were dilated for testing. His left eye pupil is still larger than his right. I'm concerned why it hasn't gone back to normal. I was told his light eyes may remain dilated longer and may last up to 2 weeks (depending on the type of eye drops used). I was told the nurse may have put in too many drops, which might be causing the pupil to remian dilated. Has anyone else experienced this before?
My son's eyes ALWAYS stay dilated for four or five days. My friends son's eyes stay somewhat dilated for two weeks!!! Some kids just react that way to the drops. In the mean time if he goes outside keep sunglasses on him and consider dimming the lights in the house. His eyes will be very sensitive and he may experience a headache!
your concerns are normal and If your childs eyes remain dilated longer than 2 weeks, I would definately suggest that you take him back to see the doctor.
B. A. LPN
My daughter, now 10, has been in glasses since she was only 2. She has light blue eyes and sounds like your son my be as sensitive as she is to the drops. A good ophthalmologist will want to know how long the eyes were dilated after the appointment so as to prevent it from happening again. I recommend giving them a call and talking with them. My daughter sees a pediatric ophthalmology specialist twice a year and they are very diligent to minimize the use of dilation in children b/c it isn't good for your eyes and can be damaging when dilated for long periods, especially when seen as often as my daughter is. I always say, when in doubt, just call the doctor - that's why they're there! :-)
I worked for an ophthalmologist for many years and occasionally someone's eyes will stay dilated a little longer than usual. Don't worry, he will be fine, just needs some time to clear out.
Are you sure that his left pupil was always the same size as the right? When my son was very young a doc noticed one pupil was larger and sent us to an ophthalmologist. There were no problems -just that he has a pupil that is larger than the other. Sometimes it's more noticeable than others. Our bodies are quite asymmetrical-most times we just don't notice it because it is subtle.
I don't know if they explained why this happens....the drops they put in are to paralyze the eye and open the pupil better. In turn this paralyzes the optic nerve, which is what causes the pupil to dilate. So, it is true depending on what kind of drops and no they probably didn't get in to much, but they usually use more than they have to on adults because kids have a tendency to cry in turn causing them to lose alot of the drops. Obviously he just didn't tear out as much drops from the one eye and it's staying dilated longer. I know it's hard but be patient, it will go back to normal.
