What is Astigmatism?

Astigmatism, like near-sightedness and far-sightedness, causes your vision to be blurry without correction. Astigmatism, however, is an imperfection in your vision that causes blurriness both at distance and near. It is mostly due to an imperfection in the shape of your cornea. 

The cornea, which is the front window of the eye, is ideally shaped like a basketball cut in half. With astigmatism, the cornea is shaped like a football or an egg cut in half – more oblong than round. 

There are optical and surgical methods to correct astigmatism. Most people correct it with glasses. Over the years, contact lenses have improved in their ability to correct astigmatism. Contacts that treat astigmatism are called toric lenses. 

For those who want independence from glasses or contacts, laser vision correction or LASIK does an excellent job of treating astigmatism.  For those who have cataracts, we can now treat astigmatism during cataract surgery either using the laser or a special lens implant. 

If you are concerned about astigmatism and its treatment, make an appointment today.