I learned today the reason eye doctors, be they optometrists or ophthalmologists, recommend you have someone available to drive for you after an eye exam that includes dilation of your pupils.
I had my annual (read: every 15 months, for some reason...) eye exam today and did not think about the fact that my eyes would probably be dilated for my normal vascular and and other checks.
Well once I was there it was a wee bit late to arrange someone to drive me soooo...
Ouch. What happened to all those cloudy, rainy, and dark days we had been having lately..?!?
Yowzy..!! How painful was that 15 minute drive home..?!?
You really come to appreciate what a complicated instrument the human eye is; how finely controlled, regulated, and powered it is. Normally the pupil easily constricts and relaxes to control the amount of light entering the eye. Use of topical eye drops allow the pupil to be artificially opened. The effect takes a few hours to 'wear off'.Anyway... luckily no changes in the eyes and an uneventful drive home. I am now sitting in our darkened den/PC room while the effect wears off. Still squinting a bit, due to the ambient light and the monitor's glow.
An interesting chapter in what I learned today.
...tom...
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3 comments:
That's awesome. HA HA HA. You'd have done just fine in my part of the world. It has been a rainy, overcast mess here.
Drat. I have to get this done again soon. Actually, as I'm nearly nine months into my fifth decade, it's time to do some of those 40-times-around-the-sun checks. Bifocals will be a blessing...
I once had an interview right after having my eyes dilated. I had to drive 20 miles there while unable to focus on my dashboard. The interviewers were kind enough to hold the interview in a darkened room.
I also once had fluorescent dye injected into my blood after having a dilation done so the opthamalogist could shine a ridiculously bright light into my eye and look for the ruptured blood vessel in my retina. He found it, and basically said "don't worry about it." Not sure what the point was. Lessens learned: fluorescent dye in my blood makes me want to dry-heave, and if ever I have my pupils dilated and my blood filled with fluorescent dye, I'll do it before I go out clubbing. At least there I might get something out of having ginormous glowing pupils.
I found I was allergic to the eye drops. Not only did they sting to start with, they got worse. They had to pour in steroid eye drops. Then, I had to wait and wait. A driver would be a good idea.
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