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Drops placed on your eyes relax the iris, the colored part of your eye, which makes the pupil, the opening in the middle of the iris that admits light into the eye, widen so your doctor can more completely examine the inside of your eye. This allows your doctor see the back of your eye more clearly. This process helps your doctor detect diabetes, tumors, retinal detachment, high blood pressure, macular degeneration and a variety of other issues in their early stages. Although eye dilation makes your eyes sensitive to bright light for a few hours after an exam, itâs a worthy prevention effort. By detecting some of these issues earlier on, dilation could help save your vision and overall health.
Best Answer: Generally, dilation of the pupil will last for three to six hours and will primarily affect your near or close up vision. However, it is not uncommon for dilation to last up to 24 hours for some patients depending on the eye drops used to achieve dilation. Different eye drops are used for various ages of patients. Most patients can drive home after their eye exam, and sunglasses are encouraged to be worn.