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Medical Forum / General / Vision / December 2004Question About Small Pupils
When I turned 50 I noticed the world growing dimmer and darker. I could not see nearly as well, in the dark, as I had always done in (younger) life. I began to take supplements and eat green leafy vegetables, and that did help. But my eyes still are nothing like when I was just a few years younger. I went for an eye checkup. Had her look deep into recesses of my eyes, and to dilate them. The doc didn't really want to do this, mainly, it seemed, cause it just took too long for her (to make money doing). But, I had her dilate my eyes and take a good inspection. She said, "Your eyes are fine. Nothing out of the ordinary." I said, "why is my night vision getting bad?" She told me it is because my pupils are (staying) smaller and that is a natural occurence in aging. The idea being: cause my pupils don't open up and dilate as much, they cannot/do not take in as much light. I look in the mirror and...yes, my pupils do seem quite small to me. But, I wonder if there is more to my condition? At age 50, do one's eyes just shrink and refuse to open up (as much) in dark light? Is this condition of having small pupils associated with any other disease or syndrome? My checking around on the net leads me to the conclusion that this is typical with people taking drugs especially opiates or narcotics. But I do not take and have not taken (or smoked, etc) any sort of drugs or narcotics. Something else must be at work, here. It is true that as you age your pupils tend to get smaller. They would have to get quite small indeed to be the sole cause of the diminished vision you are claiming. Do you have a spectacle correction that you are wearing? Did your eye doctor say anything about cataracts? Don't be alarmed about small pupil size. It's quite common. In actuality small pupils can provide quite sharp vision as they function almost like a pinhole camera. Why don't you hold a ruler up to your eye and look at the scale in the mirror. Then tell us approximately what the pupil size you measured on yourself in bright room light and also in dim light. That would be helpful. > When I turned 50 I noticed the world growing dimmer and darker. I could > not see [quoted text clipped - 35 lines] > work, > here. Smaller pupils are one possible cause. Dilated eye examinations have become standard and a doctor who is hesitant to dilate might also be hesitant to work very hard at investigating or explaining other causes for your problem. Other common causes include -decrease in retinal contrast sensitivity -delayed glare recovery -increased haze and loss of transparency in the crystalline lens -vitreous collapse and floaters All of these are pretty normal and all of them have no practical treatment. Some others are not "normal" but still might be unavoidable or untreatable, mostly neurological problems including toxic episodes (alcohol, tobacco, environmental poisons) and subtle optic nerve disease. If small pupils are the problem, there's a tradeoff - people with small pupils have less trouble with presbyopia and other refractive problems because (for focusing purposes) small pupils work better than large. Basically, it comes with having birthdays. -MT > When I turned 50 I noticed the world growing dimmer and darker. I could > not see [quoted text clipped - 35 lines] > work, > here. > Smaller pupils are one possible cause. Dilated eye examinations have become > standard and a doctor who is hesitant to dilate might also be hesitant to [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > All of these are pretty normal and all of them have no practical treatment. Again we come across to the absolute incompetence of the competent people (professionals and medical men...). Now you can overcome your problem very easily, being a mere mental problem due to strain to see. Just paste a Snellen chart up on the wall, well lighted. Practice few minutes per day with each eye separately, and with both eyes, to see what you can without straining. If you wear glasses, you must discard them and progress will be difficult in the beginning. > Just paste a Snellen chart up on the wall, well lighted. > [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > If you wear glasses, you must discard them and progress will be > difficult in the beginning. Whan an idiot. Plonk. > When I turned 50 I noticed the world growing dimmer and darker. I could > not see [quoted text clipped - 35 lines] > work, > here. Unfortunately, birthdays are at work. Besides smaller pupils and slower reaction of the nerve/muscles that serve the pupil, the eye loses sensitivity to dim light and is slower to recover from glare with every passing decade. Normal aging changes to the lens of the eye as well as aging of the retina are likely to blame. A diet high in dark green vegetables, a lifetime of protection from ultraviolet light and a history of not smoking will help, supplements may be of no or mininal help. Dr Judy |
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