tarwheel 

This will be a first for me this afternoon -- cycling to a doctor's appointment. It's actually an eye doctor. My glasses frames broke over the weekend and my usual eye doctor couldn't fit me in until Thursday. So I did a search and found another eye doctor right on my bike commute route. I called, and they can fit me in this afternoon, so I'll just stop for the appointment on my commute home.

Hopefully the sunlight won't be too harsh after getting my eyes dilated, but I do have sunglasses to wear.

toyota200x

Yeah I wouldn't think that your eyes would have to much of a problem cycling. It was always hard to read after being at the doctors.

ItsJustMe

I haven't had my eyes dilated for 25 years now. I'm not sure why it would be necessary unless they're looking for retina problems or something.

I am done buying glasses locally. My prescription is straightforward and rarely changes, so I don't need a lot of handholding. I paid $620 for my current pair a few months ago, then went online and found I could get exactly the same thing from the same frame/lens/coating makers for $280 online. I'm all for supporting local businesses, but not when they're charging $620 for something that I know for a fact costs them < $200, and possibly < $100.

Actually I'm planning on getting a pair of prescription sunglasses from zennioptical.com - friends have gotten $9 glasses there and are happy. At the prices they charge you could buy a pair just to have some crazy round rose-tinted glasses for a halloween costume.

Ngchen

FWIW, not only do your eyes become extra sensitive to light after being dilated, they also lose the ability to focus for a while. Even with sunglasses, I would not ride right after getting done. Better to wait 2-3 hrs first.

Torrilin

If you have several different eye problems interacting, dilation is necessary (I have astigmatism and about -8.5 diopters of myopia). The optician will run you through the standard eye exam with undilated eyes, then again after dilation. The difference in the results lets them get a more accurate prescription. It's not fun at all, but I can see the difference. A prescription with no dilation will be good for a year or less. One with dilation may last 3 or more years. A prescription with dilation will also be much easier for me to adjust to.

Since your eye muscles are basically stunned into a relaxed state, it gets hard to focus. Even walking can be a bit difficult for me after dilation, since my sense of balance gets messed up. Visual feedback doesn't match what my inner ear says. I try not to drive or do anything else tricky immediately afterwards.

mtnwalker

Not to be a downer but today is a bad day for that kind of thing. The sun will still be out and dilated eyes are very sensitive to light. Be extra careful out there when you go home.

noisebeam

Doesn't stop thousands of motorists from driving home from the eye dr.

Al

HardyWeinberg

I have biked fine w/ dilated eyes. Course I live where it's grey (8 months of the year anyway).

supton

I usually get my eyes dilated when I go. If I'm smart, I bring my sunglasses into the building with me; even if I didn't, I make sure to grab one of the cheesy disposable sunglass thingies at the front desk when I leave. I've found, without fail, it is the sunniest day of the year when I have this done, so I wind up first putting on my sunglasses, then the crappy freebies over that.

I hate driving like that, but at least the car roof and my usual driving hat (a baseball type of cap) keeps the light down a bit. I just spend the rest of the day pretending I'm suddenly 40 years older and can't see all that well.

bikeCarrot

I've ridden to doc appointments before, but never the eye doctors. I'd be very careful on your way home (not that I needed to tell you that )

tarwheel 

I called the doctor's office and explained that I would be riding a bike and asked if that would pose any problems. They said I might have trouble focusing on things up close -- like reading -- but I should be fine riding. I understand the concerns, but I have always driven to eye checkups before, and it seems like driving a car would be more dangerous than riding a bike. It also will be late in the afternoon, so the sunlight shouldn't be intense. If so, I could always wait a little while for it to get darker.

ItsJustMe

I guess that's why then; I only have about 3 diopters of correction, just simple astig + nearsightedness, and my prescription has only changed .25 diopters in one eye over the last 6 years, not at all in the other.

So it's been a while since your last exam, to need a new exam for new glasses?

chephy

I had my eyes dilated recently, and the doctor assured me (without my even asking about it) that driving right after the appointment would be okay. Only your abilities to focus on objects close to you (like a book you're reading) is affected - but you can see the road ahead of you fine.

K6-III

I had no issues riding after visiting my eye doctor.

crazybikerchick

I don't know about all you that biked just fine after having your eyes dilated. But I definitely recommend the sunglasses. I rode home after having my eyes dilated (no sunglasses) and I wouldn't recommend it - I was basically riding around with my eyes half shut because the light was intolerable.

Catgrrl70

I've done this before as well. I have super-bad vision so have to have this done every year for a proper check-up and the Dr. office is right on my way home. I would not recommend, if you have poor vision, hopping on the bike right away. Personally, I cannot focus and my depth perception is all off - those potholes and train tracks really do exist! Usually, hanging out in the office for an extra 1/2 hour or so is enough to recover.

tarwheel 

Well I made it home fine after my eye doctor's appointment. It was about 6:15 pm by the time I left, so the light was not very bright, even with my eyes dilated. I did wear my sunglasses, however. Today I rode all the way downtown to pick out new frames for my glasses, bagging a 40-mile roundtrip commute. It was a beautiful day in NC, sunny with high in mid-60s, and perfect weather for a long commute.

chephy

We are saying that dilation does not affect the ability of eye to focus on distant objects. But that doesn't cancel the fact that of course sunglasses are highly recommended.

BA Commuter

Since you're planning to wear sunglasses for awhile, I would ask him for an herbal prescription for medicinal purposes, of course!

Zero_Enigma

FWIW, I totally agree. someone I worked with before did that. Lets just "george, george, george of the jungle, george, george, george of the jungle *ooowwwaaayyy-ooooo-waaaayyyy-ooooo*, look out for that tree, look out for that TRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEE.... EEEEEEEEEEE!!" and coincidently his name was George as well for real and no joke here it's real his wheel toe clipped a pot hole on the sidewalk and he went into... take a guess... (hint check song above). He was just back from the eye doctor for a routine eye check up and he got his eyes dilated but thought he could ride the bike slowly home. Well a lesson learned by the school of hard knocks. Thankfully it was just a bruise and scrapes he got from the tree bashing.

IMHO, having my eyes dilated many times before I know it's ~2-3 hrs before most of the effects are worn off. I have had ~4hrs once but that was I forgot the reason but I got some double drops because I was weeping the eyes (to me they sting and water the eyes) so much I think the eye doctor thought I weeped out the dilation solution *shrugs*.

I would recommend at the least 2hrs or better yet 3hrs before riding. Probably a good day to take the sidewalk just to be safe or way way better yet just take the bus or taxi or have a friend/family/co-worker driver you home. The brightness of the lights around you can still be felt on the eyes hours later after the dilation in my experience.