# Why can I not open my eyelids after dilating eye drops?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-i-not-open-my-eyelids-after-dilating-eye-drops/840041>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 11, 2019, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-i-not-open-my-eyelids-after-dilating-eye-drops/840041 "2019-09-11T15:11:20Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\
**Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-i-not-open-my-eyelids-after-dilating-eye-drops/840041/1 "2019-09-11T15:11:20Z")

</div>

When I go to the eye doctor and they want to dilate my pupils, they put in the eye drops.

It stings a bit, and I think that is normal. However, even in the dark room, I have a very hard time opening my eyelids after the drops. They feel like they have 5 pound weights tied to them and I am physically unable to open them more than 1/4 of the way open.

This prevents the optometrist from doing what he normally wants to do, so he ends up using his fingers to physically open my eyelids. He seems a little irritated by this, but not extremely surprised.

By the time I leave the office, the world is bright of course, but I do not have the same heavy eyelid problem.

Is this common or uncommon? For either answer, why does this happen?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![mjmlabs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mjmlabs/32/69_2.png) [@mjmlabs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mjmlabs)\
**Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-can-i-not-open-my-eyelids-after-dilating-eye-drops/840041/2 "2019-09-11T15:48:00Z")

</div>

Sounds like the eye drops are relaxing/paralyzing the muscles of your eyelid. Not uncommon, it seems:

> [@](#):
>
> Dilating eye drops contain medication to enlarge (dilate) the pupil of the eye. There are two types of drops: one type stimulates contraction of the muscles that enlarge the pupil (such as phenylephrine); the other type relaxes the muscles that make the pupil constrict and also relaxes the muscle that focus the lens of the eye (such as cyclopentolate). These two kinds of medications are often used together, either as two separate drops or as a single combination drop.

Source [PDF]: [AAPOS](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=11&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwj6j5GTjcnkAhUjhOAKHcZpAMoQFjAKegQIAhAC&url=https%3A%2F%2Faapos.org%2FHigherLogic%2FSystem%2FDownloadDocumentFile.ashx%3FDocumentFileKey%3D65bf1634-40ce-88cc-2c6f-47d9fd203481%26forceDialog%3D0&usg=AOvVaw3Rz3Cg5K9rCRK-F_03_lYX)