Understanding what astigmatism is might help you make better decisions about your eye health. Because your vision is so essential, you should learn all you can about astigmatism and how this kind of condition might impair your eyesight over time, causing you more problems in the future.
What Is Astigmatism?
Astigmatism is a relatively frequent eyesight condition, believe it or not. This prevalent ailment affects one out of every three Americans in some way. It happens when the corneas, also known as the transparent lenses at the front of your eyes, aren’t perfectly shaped. As a result, your eye’s curve is uneven. Many people develop astigmatism at an early age, while others get astigmatism as they become older.
Symptoms Of Astigmatism
But how can you know whether you have this underlying condition? Astigmatism may cause cloudy vision all around, regardless of how far or close the desired object is. For this reason, bringing an object closer or farther away from the eyes is rarely beneficial. Things may seem distorted or tinted in most circumstances, and it may be considerably more difficult to see at night.
Squinting may momentarily clear things up, but it might cause eyestrain and headaches.
What Effect Does Astigmatism Have On Vision?
To completely comprehend astigmatism in general, you must first understand how astigmatism affects your eyesight. Astigmatisms cause light to enter your eye at less-than-optimal angles due to the irregular curvatures in your eye. As a result, your vision will look hazy and blurred. Astigmatisms are a form of refractive defect that may develop alone or in conjunction with other refractive errors such as nearsightedness (myopia) and farsightedness (hyperopia).
What Do Astigmatism Sufferers See?
The eyesight of those with enough uncorrected astigmatism will be hazy, fuzzy, or distorted. On the other hand, many individuals have mild levels of astigmatism and have no symptoms. Astigmatism must be 0.75-1.00 diopters to be apparent however, this varies according to the person. Astigmatism may also produce picture shadowing; this may cause letters to appear more than once.
Children with astigmatism may not be able to express it verbally. In addition to eye rubbing or shutting one eye, parents should watch for the other symptoms listed.
What Factors Can Worsen Astigmatism?
Astigmatism may worsen in a number of different ways. This is, however, a completely typical occurrence. Because our eyes are one of our most vital instruments, it is inevitable that they would become steadily less effective over time. After all, astigmatism is a condition in which aging plays a significant role.
If you suspect that you are suffering from this condition, consulting with a professional will enable them to thoroughly test your vision and establish a treatment plan tailored to your specific needs and requirements.
Solutions For Astigmatism
Glasses:
Astigmatism may be treated in various ways, the most frequent of which is wearing glasses. Astigmatism glasses resemble regular glasses, but they may get extremely thick at the margins in cases of extreme astigmatism. Glasses can only be used to treat normal astigmatism, not irregular astigmatism.
Contacts:
Astigmatism contacts are another possibility. The soft kind is the most common however, it can only treat standard astigmatism, not irregular astigmatism. The word toric refers to contact lenses that correct astigmatism. Rigid gas-permeable lenses are sometimes preferable to soft lenses, especially in the unusual instance of uneven astigmatism.
Orthokeratology, a kind of rigid gas-permeable contact lens that is worn overnight, maybe a good match for certain patients. During the night, these lenses alter the curvature of the cornea, reducing the need for spectacles during the day. Orthokeratology is only effective for corneal astigmatism, not lenticular astigmatism. It’s a natural technique to correct astigmatism, but it’s just temporary.
LASIK Surgery:
If you want to get rid of your astigmatism for good, you’ll require refractive surgery. There are a few options for treating astigmatism. They can only correct astigmatism that originates in the cornea, not the lens, therefore determining the cause of your astigmatism will be part of your first examination.
The most frequent refractive surgical treatment is laser-assisted in Situ Keratomileusis, also known as LASIK surgery, which is followed by photorefractive keratectomy (PRK).
The LASIK procedure for astigmatism is a quick-recovery procedure. The physician makes a tiny flap of tissue in the cornea, raises it, and then applies a laser to the cornea in LASIK surgery. After that, the flap is replaced and smoothed out. The recovery time following LASIK is relatively short since the flap protects the eye while it heals. Because LASIK heals quickly and predictably, both eyes are frequently treated at the same time.
We hope that our short introduction on astigmatism has clarified some of the most often asked issues concerning the disease. As long as you are aware of the nature of this condition, you may seek out signs and treat them appropriately by contacting and talking with a specialist.
We cannot emphasize enough how important it is to take proper care of your eyes. As one of the most often used tools in your body, it is critical to take proper care of them to promote the best eyesight possible.
