Did you know that the size of your pupils can say a lot about your health? When you visit your optometrist for a comprehensive eye exam, one of the first things they’ll do is examine your pupils. In this post, Nova Vision Center discusses what you need to know about your pupils.
Pupil Function and Normal Size
The pupils are the black, ball-like features found in the center of your eyes. The pupil is actually an opening that lets in light, which is where the process of vision begins. Normal pupil size ranges between 2.0 to 5.0 millimeters, and the size of the pupil can change due to a number of factors. For example, younger individuals tend to have larger pupils than older people. Pupils also constrict when the surrounding light is too bright to avoid overwhelming your eyes. When you’re in a darker room, they dilate to let in as much as light as possible.
During an eye exam, your optometrist will measure your pupil size. This is to determine if you have anisocoria, where one pupil is a different size than the other. While this doesn’t necessarily indicate a vision problem, it could be a symptom of an underlying condition.
Conditions Related to Changes in Pupil Size
When you hit your head against a hard surface, it’s possible for your brain to get bumped into your skull, resulting in a concussion. This may cause your pupils to become bigger than the usual. Your eye doctor may notice that one pupil is smaller and one is bigger than normal. Trauma, infection or and other conditions may cause inflammation of your eyes’ natural iris, leading to iritis. Since the iris controls your pupil, any problems related to this eye part may also cause a change in your pupils.
Cluster headaches are intensely painful headaches that usually affect only one side of your head, with the pain often seeming to originate directly behind the eyes. This kind of headache affects your facial nerves. Since these nerves are linked to your eyes, your eye doctor may notice that the pupil of your eye on the affected size has become smaller.
To learn more about your conditions related to pupil size changes, call Nova Vision Center at (703) 291-0080 or complete our form. We serve Alexandria, Arlington and nearby VA areas.