Explaining Astigmatism
What is it?
Astigmatism comes about when the front end region of the eye, known as cornea, isn’t a regular symmetrical moonlike shape. Instead, its mold is rather similar to that of the back of a spoon - longer in one fashion than another. Due to the fact that the cornea is an jagged shape, the eye can’t focus light passing through it sharply on to the back of the eye or retina. So vision is smudged at all distances.
What causes it?
During prenatal eye development, assorted factors specify the anatomy of it, including transmitted genetic factors and nurture. It turns out that these factors can result in an irregular curve of the cornea, although the exact cause isn’t known.
Who’s affected?
Most people have a slight astigmatism
Astigmatism is common and is usually present when a individual is born. Most people have a unimportant astigmatism - it is exceptional for the cornea to have formed in a perfectly symmetrical style. But in mild cases, the eye can adjust to focus light adequately.
In many cases of astigmatism the person also has accompanied optical problems like 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 hazy or distorted whether the person is reading close up or looking further into the distance.
In milder cases the person may complain their vision is fuzzy 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 registered optometrist, ophthalmic surgeon or eye specialist. A good 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 enquiries 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 severe.
In some cases, astigmatism can be corrected by an operation called refractive surgery, which reshapes the cornea.
Some may choose laser surgery. If you are considering this form of therapy, ensure that you speak to your surgeon about the good and bad points before you make your decision.
