Astigmatism

Astigmatism is a treatable condition of the eyes. The symptoms lead to continuous headaches and also blurred vision. The front lipid of the eyes gets uneven resulting in blurred focusing. The condition can be inherited and found in the child at birth and in certain cases, develops with age. It is quite a common condition and may not need a corrective action for the same. The treatment would include corrective lenses and surgery. Patients suffer from short or long sightedness symptoms while suffering from this condition.

Symptoms

A small degree of this condition does not hurt. Normally the patient may not realize in the beginning. With time, the condition can worsen, and becomes noticeable. There are severe outcomes like headaches, sensitivity to light, tired and dry eyes as a result, blurring of objects.

Causes

When the cornea or the lens in the eyes gets deformed and takes a longer end or a shape of a rugby ball, that’s where the problem sets in. That is the reason why the condition has been named so. This condition is not caused by reading in low light or watching too much of television, which are myths related to it. The condition is normally present from birth as the size and shape of eyes are developed in the mother’s womb itself. The reasons behind the condition are still unknown, but the conception behind is that it is caused by some environmental as well as some genetic factors.

Diagnosis

An optometrist, ophthalmic surgeon would conduct a full eye exam to find out the actual extent of the problem. The test is known as Retinoscopy which measures the amount of light from the surface of the cornea in the form of kerometers and Ketroscope. These are the units which actually measures the degree of distortion occurred in the cornea and lens after projecting light. The Ketroscope gets the recording of the internal view with the help of a camera. This type of technique is known as videokateroscope. Corrective action can be taken after the degree of astigmatism is found out. This will help the doctor in providing correct prescription to the patient.

Treatment

The treatments available are in plenty and depend on the situation. The glasses and soft contact lenses can be used if the curve is even. Hard contact lenses may be used if the curves of cornea are found to be uneven and irregular. In case if the person is having irregular as well as an uneven shape of cornea; the doctor then prescribes patients to use hard contact lenses to corner the problem of unevenness of the cornea. Patients use toric lenses as contact lenses. The doctor may prescribe patients for surgery known as refractive surgery which help in reshaping of the cornea, only in severe cases. The patients would need to go for eye check up regularly to the eye specialist hereafter. For normal conditions, doctor would suggest some basic methods to relax the eyes, like taking short breaks while working on computers, or getting good sleep to relax. The treatment would be a two pronged approach. The treatment of doctor needs to be complimented with patients taking care of their eyes properly.