How Astigmatism Affects Your Vision

As a common hereditary condition, astigmatism can manifest while a person is still young. When this happens, he's likely to wear corrective lenses for a very long period or undergo laser surgery for permanent treatment.

What Causes It

As astigmatism can show up as early as childhood, many experts say astigmatism might be hereditary. Children inherit the refractive problems from their parents’ vision. Another known cause is injury or disease that happened to permanently damage the victim’s cornea function. The condition, in this case, is called keratoconus (because it makes the cornea thinner and more cone-shaped).

You Might Have Astigmatism When…

Oftentimes, astigmatism is accompanied by various other vision problems; nearsightedness and farsightedness among them. What separates them, though, is that astigmatism can be typically exhibited early in life through symptoms like eye strain, headaches, and the need to constantly squint. Children may have a difficult time at school with this problem.

Treatments

Doctors typically treat patients with astigmatism via refractive or laser eye surgery. In this procedure, a laser is used to correct your vision by changing the shape of the cornea's surface back to normal.

If you want to know more about astigmatism and have your eyes checked in the process, call up a reputable eye doctor and schedule a checkup. Ask him about the procedures that will work best on you.

Correcting Astigmatism

Astigmatism may be one of the most common vision problems yet it is often misunderstood. It is defined as inability of the eyes to properly focus on light sources, because the light is directed at other sections of the retina. You know you have astigmatism when you are forced to squint to see an object more clearly. There are ways to correct them that an eye doctor can help you with.

Corrective treatments are the first option, and eyeglasses are a popular choice among the patients. The practitioner will first test your eyes through various methods and determine the right grade for the lenses. The patient will then have to choose the material for the frame. In some cases, however, the patient may opt for glasses and a pair of contact lenses. The eye doctor will then determine whether soft or extended-wear lenses are appropriate, depending on your level of activity, as well as explain the maintenance options for the lenses.

A more or less permanent solution to eliminating astigmatism is to undergo refractive surgery. LASIK, where the cornea’s flap is cut open and a laser beam shapes the cornea underneath, is a highly popular option because of its relatively fast healing time and the excimer laser used in the procedure does not generate heat. PRK is also the same as LASIK, but has longer recuperation time.