AboutMitchell Axelrod Expertise I'm happy to answer questions about eye exam findings and procedures, glasses and contact lens types/prescriptions/problems. I can also answer questions about general eye conditions/diseases.
I do not answer questions concerning surgical techniques/procedures.
Please state your age or within a small range when asking questions, as it is often important.
Experience Optometrist 19 yrs.
Education/Credentials Doctor of Optometry, cum laude; Residency in Ocular Disease
Question when eyes are dialated can you see the nerves behind the eye and if they are damaged or just what is going on in the eyeball it self.
Answer Hi Julie,
Even without dilating the pupil, you can (only) see the end or 'head' of the optic nerve where it plugs into the back of the eyeball. It is this nerve that carries the visual info to the brain. You cannot see behind the eyeball, only into it as if looking inside a ping pong ball. Some eye diseases, like glaucoma, damage the optic nerve and the head of it starts to look sickly. Other nerves that supply the muscles that move the eye around or nerves that allow for sensing pain, itch, etc. cannot be seen. Thanks for asking, if you have other questions about this let me know.
Mitch Axelrod,OD
