Astigmatism treatments
What is astigmatism?
Astigmatism is a common eye condition resulting in blurred vision. Astigmatism symptoms also include distorted vision, fatigue, headaches, and eye strain. Astigmatism does not improve on its own and may get worse over time.
Normal vision
AstigmatismWhat causes astigmatism?
This refractive error is caused by an irregularly shaped cornea (the transparent surface of the eye). It means that your cornea is shaped like a football rather than being perfectly round like a baseball.
In the normal eye, the cornea is curved equally on the horizontal and vertical axes. When light rays enter the eye and hit the retina, they focus at a single point, resulting in clear vision.
In an astigmatic eye, the cornea cannot properly focus light onto the retina, which causes distorted vision.
Most people with myopia (nearsightedness) or hyperopia (farsightedness) have some degree of astigmatism. Different degrees of astigmatism can occur in each eye.
People are usually born with astigmatism, although, rarely, it can develop after injury or trauma to the eye, causing the shape of the cornea to shift.
How is astigmatism diagnosed?
Astigmatism can easily be diagnosed with an eye exam, where your eye doctor will measure the curvature of your cornea. During this exam, your eye doctor could also determine whether your level of astigmatism needs correction or not.
Astigmatism correction
While astigmatism cannot be reversed, it is possible to correct it.
EYEGLASSES AND CONTACT LENSES
Eyeglasses and contact lenses are commonly used to correct astigmatism, although your eyes do need some time to adapt to the change.
While these are fairly simple solutions, glasses and contacts do a poor job of correcting astigmatism. Firstly, glasses can’t fix astigmatism, they can just compensate for it. Furthermore, your vision might be distorted towards the edges of the lenses. If you wear contacts, you might notice that your vision gets blurry when the lenses rotate, which is something that naturally happens during daily wear.
LASER EYE SURGERY FOR ASTIGMATISM
Those who have LASIK often have a better quality of vision after surgery than before with glasses and contacts.
"Because of my astigmatism, my vision could never be perfectly corrected with glasses or contacts to quite the same degree [as LASIK]."
To correct this eye problem, a laser eye surgeon uses advanced laser technology to make the corneal curve more even, eliminating astigmatism in the eye. This correction allows light rays to focus directly onto the retina for clear vision.
Based on your level of astigmatism, a customized solution to correct your vision problem can be identified after a consultation, provided for free by LASIK MD. During this 2-hour appointment, an eye care professional executes a series of tests to determine your eligibility.
If you are interested in booking a consultation, you can do so online or by phone 1-866-961-2020
You may also like: 9 Facts You Didn’t Know About Astigmatism