Astigmatism

Astigmatism, another cause of poor vision, occurs when the eye is irregularly shaped.   The cornea is shaped like the side of a "football" or the bottom of a “spoon.”   In this circumstance, images focus on more than one point in front of, or behind the retina.

The result is that all images, whether near or far, may be blurry.

In mixed astigmatism, symptoms of myopia or hyperopia are combined, resulting in the overall inability to see images clearly.

Corrective Options Available for Astigmatism:

• Corrective Lenses (glasses): Eyeglasses are, of course, the classic way to correct vision problems. They've been helping those problems since the 13th century.  Lenses are ground to correct the astigmatism.





• Contact Lenses: Contact lenses are delicately crafted, very thin optical discs generally smaller than a dime, worn directly on the eye. They are comfortably held in place by a natural layer of tears present between the contact lens and the cornea. Contacts eliminate the barriers encountered with spectacles that interfere with the line of sight above, below and to the sides of the eye, offering outstanding peripheral vision. In addition, contacts can reduce or eliminate the image distortion sometimes caused by eyeglasses.
• Surgical Treatment:  Another option for the condition of astigmatism is laser vision correction.  See LASIK – TREATMENT