Caption for page eight: What happens when you get a dilated eye exam? Description for page eight: Side-by-side pictures compare a normal pupil with a dilated pupil. Each picture also has the anatomy of the eye, highlighting the portion inside of the eye that can be viewed before and after pupil dilation.

When you go for a comprehensive dilated eye exam, your eye care professional will put drops into your eye to dilate, or widen, the dark spot in the center of your eye, the pupil. Once your eyes are dilated, he or she will use a special magnifying lens and a light to look at your retina and other parts of your eye for signs of damage from diabetes. Your eye care professional also will do some tests that you may have had before: visual acuity, or reading an eye chart to measure how well you see at different distances, and tonometry, where a puff of air [or another method] is used to measure the pressure inside your eye.