Question
For the past two months my husband has had headaches everyday. He went to the doctor and was given muscle relaxors, ear drops. Today I noticed his left pupil is dialated much more then the right. I am concerned as to what this could be.
Answer
Hi Brandi,
Different pupil size, called anisocoria, is normal in about 25% of us. You may want to examine old photos of your husband using a magnifying glass to see if he's always had it. Pupil testing is straight forward an involves checking the pupil size of each eye when shining a bright light into each eye and alternating eyes and comparing the pupils' responses. There are some common pupil abnormalities that are not concerning, one is called Adies Tonic pupil where one pupil is stuck at one size but nothing otherwise is wrong. Anyway, if you don't prove it was pre-existing by examining old photos, then an eye doctor should be consulted and specifically address the pupil size as your chief complaint. Be sure eye drops for red eyes haven't been used as they dilate pupils.
Hope that helps,
Mitch Axelrod, OD.
