Definition of Astigmatism

Astigmatism is a common vision condition where the cornea or lens of your eye are not perfectly smooth. This causes blurred vision no matter the distance and can requiring corrective lenses or surgery.

Cause

• Because either your cornea or lens aren't evenly curved, light rays will not refract properly.

Symptoms

• Signs of astigmatism include visual distortions, blurriness, or eyestrain. Each eye could be affected differently, with different degrees of visual problems.

Diagnosis

• An eye doctor will use various tools to examine your eyes and measure the amount of malformation of your cornea or lens. A keratometer will measure the amount of reflected light coming off your cornea, while a keratoscope can detect and quantify astigmatism.

Treatment

• The two ways to treat astigmatism are the use of corrective lenses to combat the uneven curvature or surgery to reshape the eye.

Occurrence

• Astigmatism is usually present at birth. Other vision conditions such as nearsightedness or farsightedness can occur in conjunction with astigmatism.