What Is Astigmatism? Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prevention

There are a number of methods to right astigmatism, together with prescription eyeglasses and make contact with lenses, says See. “Many instances folks with astigmatism do higher with contact lenses. As a result of when you put a robust astigmatism-correcting lens in entrance of an eye fixed, it may possibly are inclined to stretch issues out and trigger distortion; if that lens is nearer to the attention, like in a contact lens, you are inclined to get much less distortion,” he says.

“Relying on the kind and severity of your astigmatism, there are completely different surgical choices to right it,” says See.

Laser-Assisted in Situ Keratomileusis (LASIK) It’s potential to deal with astigmatism with LASIK surgical procedure, says See. In LASIK surgical procedure, the surgeon makes a skinny, hinged flap in your cornea, and tissue is faraway from the inside layer to sculpt the form.

“You need to make certain there isn’t some type of keratoconus (thinned cornea) happening earlier than surgical procedure; when you do LASIK surgical procedure on somebody with keratoconus, you may really make their imaginative and prescient worse,” he says.

Photorefractive Keratectomy (PRK) This surgical procedure is used to right astigmatism, and it may be an possibility in case your physician thinks you’re not a great candidate for LASIK. In PRK, the surgical procedure is much like LASEK however quite than loosening the epithelium, the surgeon removes it.

Lens Surgical procedure This process is carried out on the lens inside the attention to deal with astigmatism, together with in folks with astigmatism attributable to keratoconus, says See. The uneven curve is corrected by changing the attention’s pure lens with an intraocular lens (IOL), known as a toric lens.

Small-Incision Lenticule Extraction (SMILE) This surgical procedure reshapes the cornea through the use of a laser to create a lens-shaped piece of tissue under the cornea floor, which is then eliminated by way of a really small incision.

Threat of Issues in Astigmatism Surgical procedure

As with every kind of surgical procedure, there’s a danger of issues on account of surgical procedure for astigmatism.

“Probably the most critical issues of LASIK surgical procedure may be when you trigger the particular person’s cornea to lose its energy, which might occur on account of making cuts and eradicating a few of the tissue. Imaginative and prescient can get progressively worse, and an individual may want contact lenses or perhaps a cornea transplant to see if this occurs,” See says.

There can be over- or undercorrection of the astigmatism, says See. “For instance, if the purpose is to deal with 100% of it, however you solely find yourself treating 80 p.c of it. In an overcorrection, the particular person may find yourself with astigmatism within the different course,” he says. In both case, the particular person may nonetheless want glasses or contacts to see clearly, he provides.

Different potential issues of surgical procedure to right astigmatism embody visible negative effects reminiscent of a starburst or halo showing round lights, an infection, dry eye, and corneal scarring.

Various and Complementary Therapies

“There aren’t any various or complementary therapies that may remedy astigmatism,” says See.

Prevention of Astigmatism

When you have astigmatism, it could be value it to ask your physician when you have keratoconus, says See. “When you have keratoconus there are therapies that would assist forestall it from getting worse, particularly when you catch it early,” he says.