I went to the optometrist a few hours ago had had my eyes dialated how long before they go back to normal?

Question

My eyes were dialated at about 12:30-12:45pm and its now 3:00pm. I was pretty much blind at first its getting better. I can see fine far away but not up close directly in front of me! (i.e. I had to move my laptop back from me to see clear!)

thanks in advance

Answer 1

It depends upon what drug your doctor uses to dilate your eyes. Diffferent drugs are metabolized at different rates by the body, therefore, they have different lengths of action. The following drugs can be used to dilate eyes. They are listed from shortest to longest acting.

Phenylephrine -- Some patients resolve within 1-2 hours due to its classification as a sympathomimetic drug.

Tropicamide -- On average I would estimate between 4-5 hours before the dilation begins to resolve.

Cyclopentolate -- tends to last most of the day.

Homatropine -- I have seen some patients dilated even the following day with this one.

Atropine -- This one is the big boy. This can last DAYS.

Of course these estimates can vary from person to person.

Answer 2

when i was in the service i went through a class a flight physical - this included dialation of the pupils of the eyes.  my recovery was similar to what you are going through.  it took somewhere between 4 and 6 hours for my eyes to return to normal