Oh I hate those dilating drops!

“Why do I need to be dilated?” It is a fair question. The basic answer is that we can’t get a good eye exam without dilation. Lately, cameras have advanced so that the parts of the eye that we can’t examine ourselves without dilation can sometimes be captured in a picture. Those pictures can show an extensive view of the retina, which is a large part of what we want to see with a dilated exam. My personal opinion is that some of those photos actually give a great view of the retina that can show more than some quick exams might. However, there are some drawbacks. The first is that those cameras typically don’t give a 3-D view, whereas the dilated exam can. Another drawback doesn’t even have to do with the back parts of the eye such as the retina. When a patient is not dilated, there are areas of the front of the eye (like the lens) that I personally cannot evaluate as well as I could if dilation was present. So, while it is often argued that the dilated exam is better for evaluating the retina than a camera photo, I would argue that it is also very useful for parts of the front of the eyeball. Dilation is not always fun for the patient, but I think it is critical to properly evaluate the whole eyeball.