Ways Astigmatism Can Affect Your Eyesight

The shape of your eyes plays a critical role in your visual acuity. Irregular eye curvature may cause astigmatism, which involves symptoms like blurry or wavy eyesight. Today, Vienna Eyecare Center, a contact lenses specialist in the area, explains what astigmatism is and now it’s treated.

Overview

Your cornea and lens have curved surfaces that are designed to bend light toward the retina. In people with astigmatism, the cornea and lens are shaped more like a football than a symmetrically curved shape. As a result, light is not focused accurately onto the retina, which leads to blurry vision.

Causes

Astigmatism is often linked to genetics. It can be present at birth, but can also develop during childhood or even adulthood. Undergoing eye surgery or experiencing eye trauma can also cause astigmatism. It’s also associated with nearsightedness and farsightedness. Fortunately,  eyeglasses, contact lenses, and procedures like LASIK can help correct this eye condition.

Types

There are three types of astigmatism: myopic, hyperopic and mixed. Hyperopic astigmatism occurs when one or both the principal meridians of the eyes are nearsighted, while hyperopic astigmatism occurs when one or both eyes have farsighted principal meridians. Lastly, mixed astigmatism happens when one principal meridian is nearsighted, and the other is farsighted. You can have either regular astigmatism, which is characterized by its perpendicular principal meridians, or irregular astigmatism, which occurs when the principal meridians are not 90 degrees apart.

Astigmatism Correction Options

The best way to find out whether you have astigmatism is to schedule an eye exam with an optometrist. Standard management options for astigmatism include eyeglasses, contact lenses or LASIK.

Vienna Eyecare Center can help diagnose astigmatism and other vision problems and provide the best treatment option. Call us today at (703) 938-7633. We serve residents of Fairfax, Reston and Tysons Corner, VA.