Astigmatism is a type of refractive error of the eye. Refractive errors cause blurred vision and are the most common reason why a person goes to see an eye professional.
Other types of refractive errors are:
- Farsightedness
- Nearsightedness
Causes, incidence, and risk factors
- People are able to see because the front part of the eye is able to bend (refract) light and point it to the back surface of the eye, called the retina.
- Changes in the length of the eye, or the shape of either the lens or the cornea make it more difficult for the eyes to focus light. If the light rays are not clearly focused on the retina, the images you see may be blurry.
- With astigmatism, the cornea (the clear tissue covering the front of the eye) is abnormally curved, causing vision to be out of focus.
- The cause of astigmatism is unknown. It is usually present from birth, and often occurs together with nearsightedness or farsightedness.
- Astigmatism is very common. It sometimes occurs after certain types of eye surgery, such as cataract surgery.
Symptoms
- Astigmatism makes it difficult to see fine details, either close up or from a distance.
Signs and tests
- Astigmatism is easily diagnosed by a standard eye exam with refraction test. Special tests are not usually required.
- Children or others who cannot respond to a normal refraction test can have their refraction measured by a test that uses reflected light (retinoscopy).
Treatment
- Mild astigmatism may not need to be corrected.
- Glasses or contact lenses will correct astigmatism.
- Laser surgery can help change the shape of the cornea surface to correct astigmatism, along with nearsightedness or farsightedness.
Expectations (prognosis)
- The right glasses or contact lenses, or laser vision correction can usually correct vision to normal.
Complications
- Uncorrected astigmatism in only one eye may cause amblyopia.
Calling your health care provider
- Call for an appointment with your health care provider or ophthalmologist if vision problems worsen, or do not improve with glasses or contact lenses.