eyes

[alleyjewel]

My 4 year old daughter sometimes has glowing white eyes when i take a picture with my cell phone camera. But most of the time they are red should i be concerned?

[alleyjewel]

Well I took like 20 pictures and only one came out with a white pupil. I took one of another lil girl we know and hers was white with red around it.I did make an appointment but cant get in untill Feb. She has had many eye exams when she was younger because she was born premature.

[Michael J Kutryb, MD]

If both eyes are glowing red, then that is probably from using a camera that doesn't have a "red eye" prevention feature.  The red eye look is from the flash bouncing off the reddish retina with the pupils dilated because there is dim light.  THe flash is so quick that the pupils don't have enough time to constrict.  If only one eye is red, that can definitely be a serioius sign of a potential lazy eye or other eye problem.  The pupil should never look white.  That is not normal. It should either appear black or red (if picture taken at night with a flash.)  If you have concerns about your daughter's eyes, please have her seen by a pediatric ophthalmologist in your area.