Should You Be Interested about Astimatism?
What is it?
Astigmatism takes place when the anterior section of the eye, known as cornea, is not a regular radial global shape. Instead, its shape is sort of like that of the back of a spoon – longer in one direction than another. Due to the fact that the cornea is an jagged shape, the eye cannot focus light passing through it sharply on to the back of the eye or retina. So vision is fuzzy at all distances.
What causes it?
As the eye forms in the womb, various components decide the anatomy of it, including inherited genetic factors and surroundings. It would seem that these factors can lead to an jagged curvature of the cornea, although the exact cause isn’t known.
Who’s affected?
Actually most of us have an astigmatism – but generally it is very mild
Astigmatism is not unusual and is normally present from birth. Most people have a slender astigmatism – it’s infrequent for the cornea to have developed in a utterly symmetrical mode. But in mild cases, the eye can adjust to focus light adequately.
In many examples of astigmatism the individual also has different optical problems such as short-sightedness or long-sightedness. Two-thirds of people with short-sightedness also have significant astigmatism.
What are the symptoms?
In severe astigmatism, vision is blurred or distorted whether the individual is reading close up or looking further into the distance.
In milder cases the person may complain their vision is hazy at certain distances, that they’ve tired or dry eyes, that it is a struggle to focus or read, or that they’ve headaches, especially when trying to focus.
How is it diagnosed?
Astigmatism should be diagnosed by a specified optometrist, ophthalmic surgeon or eye specialist. A thorough optometric examination should be done to assess the degree and extent of the problem.
Teeny children, who may not be able to answer the optometrist’s questions about what they can see, can be assessed using a test called retinoscopy that involves reflected light.
What’s the treatment?
By and large, you can adequately deal with an astigmatism by using properly prescribed specs or contact lenses.
If the astigmatism isn’t too bad, it may not require treatment at all – unless of course it is critical to your work that you have perfect vision or that you are likely to tire, in which case a mild astigmatism may become more of a problem.
In some cases, astigmatism can be corrected by an operation called refractive surgery, which reshapes the cornea.
Some may choose laser surgery. Try to obtain a balanced view about how good or dangerous laser surgery may be by speaking to your surgeon first.
