ValuedPatient - Healthcare Topics
Blue eye looking wideways

Astigmatism: A Guide

Astigmatism is generally regarded as the most misinterpreted vision issue for people. You might have it yourself, but not notice since it exists at many different levels, affecting people at various scales of severity.

What exactly is Astigmatism though, and how could it potentially affect your vision?


What is Astigmatism?

Like nearsightedness and farsightedness, astigmatism is a refractive error in the eye’s cornea, resulting in issues with how the eye focuses light.

With astigmatism, light fails to come to a single focus on the retina to produce a clear and crisp image for the brain to process. Instead, multiple focus points occur, which causes vision to be blurry or distorted at all distances to some degree.

Astigmatism usually causes eye strain and headaches, usually after a task that requires focus for a significant amount of time, such as reading or looking at a screen.


What should I do if I suffer from Astigmatism?

There are special prescription lenses you can get that specifically target astigmatism sufferers, that you can have made for you via an eye examination.

As well as this, refractive surgery procedures such as LASIK can also correct most types of astigmatism. Check out our other article on LASIK at https://valuedpatient.com/my-eyes/lasik-is-it-right-for-you/ to learn more about it.