Astigmatism

What is astigmatism?

Astigmatism distorts or blurs vision for both near and far objects. It’s almost like looking into a fun house mirror in which you appear too tall, too wide, or too thin. It is possible to have astigmatism in combination with myopia or hyperopia.

Astigmatism is a condition where vision is blurred, caused by an irregularly shaped cornea. Instead of being shaped a sphere, the cornea is ellipsoidal – so like a rugby ball, rather than a football.

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Mr Puri says:

“It’s a condition we would diagnose as part of a routine eye test, which is why we recommend bringing your children to see us at an early age. Astigmatism will affect their ability to learn properly at school.”

Astigmatism details

This means that a different prescription is found in different meridians of the eye – the eye has different focal points, in different planes. For example, the image may be clearly focused on the retina in the horizontal direction, but not in front of the retina in the vertical direction.

Astigmatism can be corrected by toric lenses – that’s a lens with different radii of curvature in different planes.

Astigmatism causes difficulties in seeing fine detail, and in some cases vertical lines, such as walls. It can occur by itself or in conjunction with myopia and hyperopia, and without treatment, it can cause eye strain, leading to headaches and tiredness

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