How quickly can sunlight damage eyes with dilated pupils?

September 5, 2015 1:22 AM

What is the risk of retinal damage if a patient leaves an optometrist after having their eyes dilated and does not wear sunglasses? Conditions like snow blindness are damage to the cornea, but what is the risk of damage that can be done to the retina?

The patient in question is, of course, me, and while you are not my doctor and I'm not taking this as medical advice, I don't know just how stupid I should feel in retrospect. I justified my decision to myself ("I'd feel really self-conscious walking around my new campus with stupid sunglasses"), and before leaving I asked the optometrist how much someone would risk damaging their vision if they didn't wear the sunglasses; she said, essentially, "you'd be OK, but it'll be uncomfortable, and whatever you do, don't look at the sun."

I did not look directly at it, but the midday sun reflected on the pavement was extremely painful, and I basically walked around for 45 minutes squinting hard and walking in as much shade as I could find. Then I got home and realized how incredibly stupid my decision was. It was clearly the UV light that bothered me - I could look out a window or stand in the shade without much pain, but any patch of sunlight was agonizing.

So now here I am trying to research exactly how stupid my decision was, and I'm only seeing information on damage to the cornea, or retinal damage caused by prolonged UV or laser exposure. It seems unlikely that I did cause damage, but very likely that I put myself at unnecessary risk for serious damage in the name of not wanting to look uncool around campus. I feel like I'm 16 all over again, and in retrospect that's so much worse than being seen in those sunglasses.

Yes, my eyes are still sore from all the squinting and straining. Yes, I am the worst patient on Earth. Yes, I have learned my lesson.

posted by teponaztli to Health & Fitness (5 answers total)

IANA/YOptometrist but I have a father who has had extensive treatment on his eyes (diabetes-related) up to and including laser treatment on leaky blood vessels, cataracts and the replacement of the vitreous humor in both eyes and who has therefore undergone much dilation. The cataracts were related to the laser surgery, not to exposure to UV (plus the fact that he was in his 70s at the time). He has therefore been squinting into sunlight for about 30 years or so - I think one exposure as you describe it is unlikely to have damaged your eyes.

I also speak as someone with diabetes who has had regular eye checks involving dilation and who has rarely used sunglasses, and whose eyesight is ok in regards to UV as far as I know (no signs of cataracts or other changes related to same).

Standard advice is to speak to your doc, nurse or eye person for further reassurance, but on a very local level I would say I wouldn't be too concerned myself.
posted by Martha My Dear Prudence at 2:00 AM on September 5, 2015

Best answer: They give you sunglasses because the dilation makes it uncomfortable and hard to see, not because normal sunlight is dangerous to dilated eyes. The big danger they're concerned about is people getting into a car accident. I mean, I wouldn't stare into the sun for hours on end, but that's not what you did. You're fine, you really are.
posted by thetortoise at 4:55 AM on September 5, 2015 [6 favorites]

Best answer: IANAD much less an optometrist, but in cases like this (that tend to make me anxious too) I try to think of the odds that something that most people are probably going to be careless about would probably have so much horribly serious risk.

Dilation is a standard procedure. If they had to trust every eye patient -- most of whom are obviously far, far less conscientious than you are -- to religiously wear those flimsy ugly little glasses or risk severe eye damage every time someone left the optometrist's office, it seems to me the whole process would be much sterner and more methodically dire about after care warnings.

I'm much more cautious than average about this kind of thing. And If this were me, I would completely forget about it if my eyes stopped hurting after a day. If they still hurt I'd go to the doctor to have them take a look. And I would assume it was going to be fine in any case.
posted by flourpot at 6:33 AM on September 5, 2015

I recently had my eyes dialated by an ophthalmologist. They didn't give me any sunglasses, they didn't mention anything other than a casual "light will hurt, may want to wear sunglasses if you have them" (I didn't, because I'd need prescription sunglasses). If it was actually dangerous I'm pretty sure they would have been more active on that point.
posted by platypus of the universe at 6:39 AM on September 5, 2015 [2 favorites]

.I....never take the sunglasses. My eyes tend to bounce back pretty quickly for some reason anyway but I am incredibly easily embarrassed about stuff like that and it's a character flaw I admit. Anyway, I have to have my eyes dilated annually due to family medical history, I have never worn the sunglasses and I have always been slightly uncomfortable but fine.
posted by Frowner at 9:49 AM on September 5, 2015 [1 favorite]