Why are the pupils unnaturally dilated?

Dilated pupils are common in children and adolescents, as well as in adults. This may be a physiological feature, a consequence of taking certain medications, or a symptom of a serious illness. How to determine the cause and in what cases should you consult a doctor?

For some people, constantly dilated pupils are a physiological norm. This condition does not affect visual acuity, except that a person may be slightly more sensitive to bright light than others. If this is not accompanied by any other symptoms, there is nothing to worry about, although for absolute peace of mind it is still better to undergo an examination by an ophthalmologist.

Another relatively harmless cause of pupil enlargement is the use of eye drops, especially atropine-based drugs. In this case, the expansion is short-lived, and soon the eyes return to their normal state. Some other drugs, such as scopolamine or adrenaline, have a similar effect.

Why do women have overly dilated pupils?

Contractions of the radial and circular muscles lead to changes in pupil size. The radial muscle causes it to expand, while the circular muscle, on the contrary, narrows. Throughout the day, the pupils change their size many times.

Dilated pupils

Reasons for naturally dilated pupils in women:

1. Response to light intensity. The brighter the lighting, the more the pupil constricts. Twilight causes it to expand. If you look in a mirror in a darkened room, then when you turn on the light, you will notice how the size of the pupil decreases. From the outside, this process is especially noticeable. You can watch pets, such as cats. In the daytime, their pupils have the shape of narrow stripes; in the evening they begin to enlarge and by night they become the entire eye. This process is explained by the passage of a ray of light through the pupil. In the sun, it automatically contracts to protect nerve cells from large amounts of light. In the dark, the expansion helps you see better by letting in more light.
2. Love and attraction to an object. The pupils become significantly larger when a person looks at something they feel about. Research by scientists has helped to find out that a woman’s pupils dilate when she looks at her child. At the same time, men experience changes when they see a naked girl. People with such eyes look much more attractive to the opposite sex.
3. Psycho-emotional mood. With a strong feeling of fear, delight, joy or excitement, the pupils increase sharply. In some cases, their size changes by a factor of 4.
4. Reaction to drugs. Before some medical examinations, special mydriatic drops are instilled into the eyes to dilate the pupil. These drugs include Atropine, Irifrin and others. After using them, the effect can last up to 3 days. Visin for eye redness can cause the same result.

How to dilate your pupils

If one pupil is severely constricted, you can restore its normal diameter with medications and exercises.

It is enough to look into the distance or concentrate your gaze on a distant object. In this case, the eye automatically becomes wider. This leads to muscle tissue relaxation.

An unusual way is to tense the abdominal muscles. You need to pull it in so hard that the muscles tense. The blood flow will begin to flow to the desired area where there is no tension. Accordingly, it will allow them to recover.

Mydriatics are used for expansion. It is important to consult a physician before use. Mydriatics include the following medications:

• Atropine;
• Cyclomed;
• Mydriacyl;
• Tropicamide;
• Irifrin.

Types of diseases that cause overly dilated pupils

Dilated pupils (the reasons for women and men are the same) indicate problems in the body. There are a large number of factors that cause mydriasis.

Diseases that are accompanied by mydriasis:

1. Eye damage. These include blunt trauma of a penetrating nature. They do not cause serious damage to the organ of vision, but can lead to eye contusion.
2. Damage or compression of the nerves responsible for the movement of the eyeball.
3. Botulism and diabetes mellitus. Diseases are not the direct causes of the problem. When they occur, deviations in the functioning of the structure of the visual organs occur.
4. Traumatic brain injuries. They damage nerve endings, which leads to mydriasis.
5. Oxygen deficiency.
6. Brain tumors of various types. As they develop and increase in size, they compress the area of ​​the brain or muscles responsible for narrowing the pupils.
7. Poisoning with barbituric acid and its derivatives or acetylcholinesterase inhibitors. This causes severe intoxication of the body. It occurs in people who use drugs, hallucinogenic drugs, and alcoholic beverages in large quantities. Workers in industries using chemicals and their compounds have also been confirmed.
8. Aneurysms of the communicating and posterior arteries. They are located next to the nerve that controls eye movement.
9. Infectious and viral diseases affecting the intracranial nerve ganglia of the eyeballs.

If other factors are influenced, the root cause of mydriasis is first eliminated, and then the symptom itself is stopped. Having given up bad habits in favor of a healthy lifestyle, the patient quickly recovers. In some cases, the size of the pupils may remain the same, equal to at least 5 mm in diameter.

How to constrict your pupils

If one pupil is slightly larger, narrow it with drops. Pilocarpine, Carbachol, Physostigmine, Aceclidine, Pilotimol, Phosphacol are suitable.

To narrow the pupil, perform gymnastics. This is an excellent method when there are no miotic agents. Here is one of the exercises:

1. focus your gaze on an object above your head;
2. watch 2–5 seconds;
3. sharply lower your eyes down without tilting your head.

The exercise is done ten times.

There are also folk methods of narrowing if one pupil is slightly larger. To stabilize them, blueberries and raspberry leaves are suitable. Decoctions are prepared from the ingredients and taken 4 times a day.

Diagnosis of overly dilated pupils

If a pathological condition of the pupil appears and the development of serious diseases is suspected, it is recommended to consult an ophthalmologist. The doctor is obliged to conduct a thorough examination of the patient.

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Dilated pupils (the reasons for women are varied) also require additional consultation with a neurologist. He will check to see if the problem is related to the nervous system. During the examination, the doctor will evaluate the reaction of the pupils to light, their shape and size.

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Prevention of overly dilated pupils

There are no comprehensive preventive measures to prevent pathological dilation of the pupils. This is due to the fact that mydriasis occurs under the influence of sudden factors, for example, the occurrence of a brain tumor. Experts give general recommendations. You should be careful when doing physical exercise.

It is important to monitor for fluctuations in blood pressure. This will help avoid hypertensive crises and serious cerebral circulatory disorders.

Patients suffering from diabetes are advised to especially closely monitor changes in blood glucose levels and not skip insulin injections. With physiological mydriasis, experts do not give any special recommendations for prevention. To reduce the risk of developing serious diseases, a person must follow some simple rules.

You can prevent the occurrence of pathological dilation of the pupils if:

1. Completely avoid drinking drugs and alcoholic beverages.
2. Avoid injuries and other damage to the mucous membrane of the eye.
3. Correctly use drugs such as Scopolamine, Platyphylline and Atropine. Medicines can only be used after consultation with a specialist.
4. Include only high quality foods in your diet.
5. Conduct early diagnosis of diseases that can cause excessive pupil dilation and approach their treatment comprehensively.
6. Regular examination by an ophthalmologist and other specialists, taking tests and undergoing various examinations.

Symptoms of drug use

Separately, changes in pupil size are distinguished when using narcotic substances and psychotropic drugs.

This symptom occurs because all drugs contain either mydriatic or miotic drugs.

And by the uncharacteristic size of the pupil for a certain level of illumination, you can even determine what drugs a person has used.

In particular, unnatural pupil dilation indicates the use of atropine-like substances, psychostimulants and hashish.

Interesting! If the reason for the dilation lies precisely in drugs, the pupil will not change its size for several hours even if the light level changes.

Methods for treating overly dilated pupils

The therapeutic course of mydriasis is compiled depending on the factor causing the problem. Conservative treatment methods are used whenever possible. If they do not help, then they resort to surgical intervention. The patient has tumors and hematomas removed, and the arterial aneurysm is clipped.

The radical method can be supplemented by prescribing medications. They are aimed at increasing blood circulation and enriching the brain with nutrients. For botulism, the patient is injected with a special serum, and for diabetes mellitus, medications are prescribed that will bring the blood glucose level to normal.

Medications

There is no need to treat mydriasis that occurs after using dilating drops. This phenomenon should go away on its own. But, if after 24 hours the pupil has not returned to normal, it is necessary to use miotic drugs, which have the opposite effect.

Without the use of medications, it is impossible to get rid of pathological dilated pupils. Medicines are prescribed according to the cause of the problem.

Therapy for mydriasis may include the following drugs:

1. M-cholimimetics. Aceclidine, pilocarpine hydrochloride.
2. N-cholimimetics. Cititone and hydrochloride.
3. Medicines from the nootropic group.
4. Antiplatelet agents or vasoactive drugs. Helps bring cerebral circulation back to normal.
5. Antibotulinum serum if dilation is caused by botulism.
6. Medicines that lower blood sugar levels in diabetes.
7. For cerebral edema, diuretics are used.

Traditional methods

Traditional medicine recipes are often used in combination with traditional therapy for many diseases. Since dilated pupils are caused by quite serious diseases, it must be treated strictly as prescribed by the doctor. The use of unconventional methods will not only not bring the desired effect, but will also increase the risk of complications.

Other methods

Surgical intervention is necessary in cases where the disease has become post-traumatic.

Other indications for surgery include:

1. Hematomas.
2. Neoplasms in the brain.
3. Vascular aneurysms.
4. Cysts.
5. Abscesses.

People who are drug addicts: what they look like (photo)

The appearance of a drug addict is distinguished by its soreness. Of course, the presence of acne on the face, bruises under the eyes and pale skin does not always indicate the presence of drug addiction. To determine a possible dependence, it is necessary to pay close attention to many factors at once.

Article prepared by an expert

Terekhova Anna Vladimirovna

psychologist-consultant on socio-psychological work with addicted clients and their families. More than 9 years of experience.

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One comment on ““External signs of a drug addict: face, gait, behavior””

1. Lyudmila:

   January 19, 2021 at 03:04

   If you notice some of the above signs in your teen, try talking to him. During such a conversation, you can determine whether your suspicions are confirmed. If you start a conversation about drugs, the teenager will immediately become wary, and after your question there will be a long pause before the teenager answers it. Or maybe there will be no answer at all, or he will be slow to answer questions. During drug addiction, even the simplest question can cause difficulty for a teenager. Causes dry mouth, redness of lips and eyes, dilated pupils. The addict becomes restless and constantly moves. His speech is leisurely. The appetite is “wolfish”; after the intoxication wears off, there is intense thirst.

   Answer

Possible complications

Mydriasis, which occurs as a result of taking medications, most likely goes away on its own. Dilated pupils due to damage to the eyeball or mucous membrane also have a favorable prognosis. But without proper treatment, negative consequences can occur.

Complications sometimes persist for a week. In rare cases, unpleasant symptoms do not go away for up to 4 months.

The reasons leading to dilated pupils often cause serious complications:

1. Traumatic brain injuries can affect the proper functioning of the brain. After treatment, patients sometimes complain of problems with motor activity, speech and memory.
2. Improper treatment of advanced diabetes mellitus causes retinopathy – eye damage and angiopathy – damage to blood vessels and capillaries of the lower extremities.
3. Serious problems with blood circulation in the brain cause speech impairment, as well as partial or complete loss of sensitivity. In advanced cases, it leads to recurrent strokes with a detailed outcome.
4. Injuries, damage to the eyeballs and mucous membrane impair vision function, and can also lead to its complete loss.

Dilated pupils are a reason for a woman to see a doctor. The danger of the phenomenon is that its causes arise unexpectedly and very quickly. In a short time, the disease can cause irreversible dangerous processes in the brain.

Dilated pupils in a woman themselves are not considered a pathological deviation from the norm. Much more dangerous are the reasons why it appeared.
Therefore, mydriasis cannot be treated as a separate disease. This is always a manifestation of a developing disease or injury. The symptom can only be eliminated by getting rid of the root cause.

Pupil dilation of one eye

Sometimes mydriasis affects only one of the organs of vision. This disorder is called unilateral mydriasis or anisocoria and can manifest itself at any age.

can be acquired or congenital,

In the photo you can see the difference between a normal-sized pupil in a given light and a dilated one.

But even if the pupils remain different sizes, this does not affect the quality of vision in any way.

The reasons for such a unilateral violation may be:

• myopia;
• various eye injuries;
• iridocyclitis;
• encephalitis;
• meningitis;
• damage to the optic nerve;
• benign and malignant formations in the brain.

Less commonly, this disorder is caused by lesions of the facial nerve, neck injuries, and osteochondrosis.

Short-term effects of alcohol on the eyes

When it enters the human body, the pupils instantly change: they dilate and contract at a low speed. Such fluctuations can negatively affect a person’s reaction, for example, when it is necessary to quickly adapt to light. Such instability is especially dangerous for people whose work involves driving vehicles. Contrast sensitivity also decreases, which affects the quality of vision and perception of the environment.

Attention! A university in Ontario conducted a study that found that after drinking alcohol, the ability of the eyes is reduced by an average of 30%. At the same time, the assessment of contrast and brightness deteriorates, which is undesirable when driving a car.

Among the short-term effects, there are other symptoms that also negatively affect the functional organs of a person:

The effect of alcohol on human vision

• The phenomenon of myokymia, that is, twitching of the eye, may occur. After drinking alcohol, the eyelid begins to fluctuate nervously;
• Dry eye syndrome worsens, especially with prolonged or heavy consumption of alcoholic beverages.

The above points lead to discomfort only for a short period of time, so they are most often not paid attention to. In the next section we will look at more complex and long-lasting phenomena that are dangerous to human health.