Forget driving, you should have warned me about walking...

[Lovecats]

The first time I ever had it done was right after we had moved down to NC over 10 years ago and that was the day that my husband decided that we should go to Sears and look at washers and dryers. The vast majority of those things were white!

[NorthernZel]

Whenever I visit my eyedoctor, I am always noticed beforehand that I must bring some sunglasses with me, luckily I have some prescribed ones.

And also luckily, there's a bar right next to the eyedoctor's so I have a good damn reason to sit and have a couple of brewskies while my eyes get normal again

[ngc_7331]

I hate, hate, hate getting my pupils dilated. Forgot not driving or walking or reading or watching television or doing just about anything else. But last time I went to get new glasses, about 3 months or so ago, they had this thing that they could use instead of dilation where they took a photograph of the inside of your eye that they could view on a computer screen. It cost a little extra and I don't know if it's something widespread or not, but it might be something to look into.

[Sakka]

I hate, hate, hate getting my pupils dilated. Forgot not driving or walking or reading or watching television or doing just about anything else. But last time I went to get new glasses, about 3 months or so ago, they had this thing that they could use instead of dilation where they took a photograph of the inside of your eye that they could view on a computer screen. It cost a little extra and I don't know if it's something widespread or not, but it might be something to look into.

My optometrist has that machine, unfortunately she still dilates my eyes to get the best possible picture of my eyes that she can. Last few times I went, the routine was get the detailed photo of each eye, the puff of air test, various tests, drops in eyes, another picture of each eye, then a detailed exam of the inside of my eyes.

By the end, I can only see a white halo from all the lights and more then once I have been a pinball bouncing off the sides of the hall as I go down it. Fortunately, I get someone to drive me to the exam and back, and afterwards I can't do anything but take some headache pills and sleep for a few hours.


The last time I went in for an exam, the air puff machine was having trouble getting a reading on one eye. The tech mentioned that it was okay, the doctor would just touch my pupil with her finger.
The doctor was amused, and impressed, that I sat through another half dozen air puffs on one eye before the machine got a usable reading.

[Maria]

The last time I went in for an exam, the air puff machine was having trouble getting a reading on one eye. The tech mentioned that it was okay, the doctor would just touch my pupil with her finger.

Mine ditched the air-puffing thing entirely because many patients don't like it. Instead she numbs the eye and touches it with some other contraption. Proof positive that the desert heat screws up your brain, if everybody would rather be poked in the eyeball than have air blown at it. End result for me, though? We haven't done that test since she retired the air-puffing machine. Doc and I tried touching my eye once, but all that accomplished was a whole lot of screaming and crying because it turns out my body really doesn't appreciate the numbing drops. Oops... par for the course though, I guess, since I'm allergic to the dilation drops too. It's just a good thing I have very light eyes that don't actually require dilation, or we'd never get anything done!

[malmalthekiller]

I was never told not to drive home, I mean, sometimes you have little choice

But I had a very big headache after my last eye exam. I have dark brown eyes, so they have to use more drops to dilate my pupils.

I think the assistant came back 2-3 times to give me more before I saw the doctor.

[agirlfromnowhere]

I've only had my eyes dilated once. Fortunately my mom was driving. For some reason I didn't get the shades. I don't remember why but I think it was because I knew my cousin's sunglasses were in the car. This was unfortunate because my niece broke them when we got back to my mom's work. That was an interesting experience. Every time I've had an eye exam after that the doctor shines a really bright light into my eyes and he does that instead of dilating. Fine by me lol.

[fireheart]

Every time I've had an eye exam after that the doctor shines a really bright light into my eyes and he does that instead of dilating. Fine by me lol.

I get the digital retinal photos. >.> absolutely fun when the light goes off and you can't blink! Then you end up with a big white light afterimage for a while.

The puff test (to check for Glaucoma) is worse. It makes me jump and half the time, I end up blinking. (basically it shoots a small puff of air out at your eyeballs)

[Jay 2K Winger]

I get the digital retinal photos. >.> absolutely fun when the light goes off and you can't blink! Then you end up with a big white light afterimage for a while.

The puff test (to check for Glaucoma) is worse. It makes me jump and half the time, I end up blinking. (basically it shoots a small puff of air out at your eyeballs)

I HATE the puff test.

But recently when I went to get my eyes checked (it had been over ten years since my last eye exam), I found out why I had such trouble keeping my eye open for it. I had both eyes open (only one eye is done at a time), and my blink reflex was going strong. So I closed one eye, and it was a lot easier to keep the other one open enough for the test to be administered.

[bainsidhe]

You know when you're picking out a new pair of frames and they have those mirrors with the bright lights overhead? Yeah. Next time I'll pick out the frames before getting my pupils dilated. Aside from the headache those lights caused, it didn't bother me too much. I put on the silly cheap shades they gave me and drove home. Then I huddled in my dim living room and tried to take a nap.