When the cornea or lens of the eye is not round, astigmatism develops. The irregular form of the light causes several places of focus within the eye, resulting in distorted or hazy vision. To treat vision problems, it’s critical to comprehend the subtle distinctions between the different forms of irregular astigmatism.
Different Astigmatism Types
About one-third of the global population suffers from astigmatism, making it a relatively common condition. There are regular and irregular forms of astigmatism. Let us examine each one:
What Is Regular Astigmatism?
Regular astigmatism is the type most commonly found. In this type, the major meridians, or the two corneal lines with the steepest and flattest curvatures, are perpendicular to each other. As a result, the cornea is said to have a larger curvature in one direction than the other, giving it the appearance of a football rather than a soccer ball. Contact lenses or glasses can be used to treat regular astigmatism after refractive surgery.
How Does Irregular Astigmatism Occur?
Uneven astigmatism is a type of refractive defect in the eye that results in distorted or fuzzy vision. This is because light enters the eye through irregularly shaped corneas, causing uneven corneal refraction. This can result in symptoms like eyestrain headaches and fatigue, besides distorting or blurring vision at all distances.
The Signs And Symptoms Of Irregular Astigmatism
Vision distortion or blurriness: You may experience distortion or blurriness in your vision at all distances and difficulty seeing clearly in certain lighting conditions if your astigmatism is irregular.
Eye strain: People with irregular astigmatism may feel uncomfortable or experience eyestrain when reading or performing other visual duties.
Headaches: One of the most prevalent signs of irregular astigmatism is headaches when performing visual tasks that need a lot of attention or concentration.
Night blindness: People who have uneven astigmatism may have low light vision or night blindness.
Uneven astigmatism may cause you difficulties seeing through regular glasses or contact lenses if you have tried both and your vision has not improved.
What Are the Irregular Astigmatism Treatment Options?
An uneven curvature of the cornea or internal lens of the eye results in irregular astigmatism. It frequently follows an injury or surgical procedure, but it can also be a sign of specific eye disorders like keratoconus. Uneven astigmatism may need more specialized care in contrast to regular astigmatism, which can be treated with contacts or glasses.
● Customized contact lenses: Toric contact lenses are intended to treat regular astigmatism irregular astigmatism may not be corrected by them. However, irregular astigmatism can be corrected with custom-made scleral and hybrid lenses among other types of contact lenses. With their larger size and wider coverage these lenses aid in vision correction more successfully.
● Refractive surgery: By reshaping the cornea methods like PRK and LASIK can be used to correct irregular astigmatism. It is crucial to remember that not every patient with irregular astigmatism can benefit from refractive surgery and the condition may not always be successfully treated.
● Glasses: Although they might not be as useful as other techniques for treating irregular astigmatism glasses can nevertheless aid with vision correction. People with irregular astigmatism can benefit from specialized eyeglass lenses such as aspheric lenses which help to lessen distortion and improve vision.
● Patching or eye drops: In certain situations, a disease like amblyopia (lazy eye) in which one eye is weaker than the other may cause irregular astigmatism. To strengthen the weaker eye and enhance vision in these situations, applying an eye patch or using eye drops may be advised. (Amblyopia commonly referred to as lazy eye, is a condition in which one eye’s vision is diminished because of improper alignment or improper brain-eye coordination).
Can Astigmatism Be Corrected With Glasses?
An unbalanced curvature of the cornea or lens of the eye results in astigmatism a mild abnormality of the eyes. One common treatment for astigmatism is to wear glasses. If you wear corrective lenses already, you may already be somewhat astigmatic. Astigmatism glasses are typically related to two conditions called refractive errors: hyperopia and myopia. During a routine eye exam, astigmatism will be diagnosed. It is typically present from birth, but it can develop at any point in your life.
Do Glasses Help Astigmatism?
There are regular and irregular forms of astigmatism. The cornea becomes more curved in one direction when an individual has regular astigmatism, which can be corrected with a variety of lenses such as contact lenses and glasses.
The cornea becomes irregularly curved in multiple directions, resulting in irregular astigmatism. This may be the consequence of a corneal scar from an eye injury. The only method for treating irregular astigmatism is to use contact lenses.
You probably have some astigmatism if you experience symptoms like blurred near or far vision trouble differentiating shapes and details frequent headaches, eye strain or fatigue. Your vision will appear distorted if you have astigmatism because light focuses on multiple areas of the retina.
The uneven curvature of the cornea can be compensated for by donning astigmatism glasses. If you’re looking to see if your lens prescription indicates astigmatism it’s located under Cylinder (CYL). If this column contains nothing, you are not astigmatic.
How To Select A Pair Of Glasses For Astigmatism?
Astigmatic glasses are designed to correct refractive errors like myopia and hyperopia. The type of glasses you must wear will depend on your vision requirements. Of course, astigmatism and presbyopia are also possible conditions. Your optometrist can determine if you have a combination of shortsightedness and longsightedness by doing routine eye exams. Your optometrist can also determine the degree of your astigmatism so that you can wear custom-fit astigmatism glasses. Astigmatism may worsen with aging and is not curable on its own. Astigmatism glasses are the most popular method of symptom relief. Your child must receive regular eye exams because untreated astigmatism can cause lazy eyes in young people.
Controlling Irregular Astigmatism
Although there are some measures you can take to lessen your chance of developing irregular astigmatism, the condition is not always preventable.
Treat astigmatism with glasses: If you engage in activities that could cause injuries to your eyes like sports or power tool use it’s crucial to put on safety glasses. This can assist in avoiding mishaps that might result in irregular astigmatism.
Keep your eyes clean: Maintaining the health of your eyes requires maintaining proper eye hygiene. This entails cleaning your hands frequently refraining from rubbing your eyes and shielding them from allergens like dust and smoke.
Attend eye exams regularly: These examinations can help identify possible issues with your eyes early on and help you get treatment before your vision conditions worsen. Keep your eyes healthy and lower your risk of developing astigmatism by eating a diet high in fruits vegetables and other nutrients.
Steer clear of smoking: Research has shown that smoking increases the risk of astigmatism and other eye disorders. Giving up smoking can help lower your chance of experiencing these issues.
Shield your eyes from the sun: Studies have shown that wearing sunglasses or a hat with a brim can help shield your eyes from UV rays which have been related to a higher chance of astigmatism.
The Function Of Eye Exams
Astigmatism is identified by a thorough ocular examination regardless of its regularity. Frequent ocular examinations are essential for identifying astigmatism and guaranteeing prompt treatment to preserve ideal vision.
