Astigmatism

I recently had a checkup with my eye doctor and found out that I had something called astigmatism. I knew I had problems with my eyes but wasn't sure exactly what it could be. When I would try to sew I couldn't see good enough to thread the needle. I would get headaches from trying to concentrate on a book i was reading. I would read a passage over and over to get what it was talking about. I would see floating shadows or white light around objects that nobody else would see. Sometimes when I looked at an image it would be blurred or distorted. I was beginning to think I was going somewhat crazy from seeing these things. I was very happy when I was told that it is normal to do this when having astigmatism.

Astigmatism, also mistakenly called Stigmatism, is caused when the cornea is slightly irregular in shape. The cornea is oval like a football instead of spherical like a baseball. It prevents light from focusing properly on the back of your eye causing it to focus on more than one point. It can often occur with nearsightedness and farsightedness. Some signs of astigmatism are poor vision while driving at night, momentary blur or poor vision during nighttime activities, not able to easily follow the action while playing or watching sports, headaches, eye strain, or fatigue, occasional blurred or shadowed vision, eyes become uncomfortable when trying to focus while watching television or working on a computer, and poor peripheral vision like backing out of a car.

Astigmatism can be measured by tests that measure the eye. Corneal Topography takes many measurements and generates a colored map creating a 3-D perspective of the corneas shape. Keratometry measures the corneas curvature. Two curves are measured, the steepest and the flattest. Vision testing is done by measuring how far letters can be seen telling you if you have 20/20 vision or not. Refraction is a test done to determine your best visual acuity with corrective lenses. Astigmatism can be corrected by glasses, contacts, or surgery. The most common surgeries used to correct astigmatism are astigmatic keratotomy. It is a procedure that involves placing a microscopic incision on the eye. Another procedure is Lasik surgery. The reason for these procedures is to reshape the cornea so it becomes more spherical or uniformly curved. If you have astigmatism it's best to talk to your doctor about what treatment is right for you.