What Is Astigmatism? : Improving Astigmatism

How can astigmatism be treated: If the degree of astigmatism is slight and no other problems of refraction, such as nearsightedness or farsightedness, are present, corrective lenses may not be prescribed. If the degree of astigmatism is great enough to cause eyestrain, headache, or distortion of vision, prescription lenses will be prescribed. However there are very effective alternatives like Eyerobics that help you regain your clear eyesight naturally without glasses or contact lenses or expensive risky surgery. The corrective lenses prescribed are called Toric lenses and have an additional power element called a cylinder. When a person blinks, the contact lens rotates. In toric lenses, it is important for the lens to return to the same position each time. Lenses have thin zones, or cut-off areas (truncated), or have other ways to rotate and return to the correct position. Soft toric lenses are available in a variety of prescriptions, materials, and even in tints. They have greater light-bending power in one axis than in others. Your eye care professional will perform precise tests during your eye examination to determine the ideal lens prescription. Refractive surgery may be prescribed too to try to correct some forms of astigmatism. The Toric lenses can be in eyeglasses or contact lenses. The unit of measure describing the power of the lens system or lens is called the diopter (D). The lenses are shaped to counteract the shape of the sections of cornea that are causing the difficulty. Because the correction is in one direction, it is written in terms of the axis the correction is in. On a prescription, for example, it may say -1.00 X 180°. Cylinders correct astigmatism, minus spheres correct myopia, and plus spheres correct hyperopia. There is some debate as to whether people with very small amounts of astigmatism should be treated. Generally, if visual acuity is good and the patient experiences no overt symptoms, treatment is not necessary. However it is advisable to use a Natural Vision Program like Eyerobics to prevent further astigmatism. When treating larger amounts of astigmatism, or astigmatism for the first time, the doctor may not totally correct the astigmatism. The cylindrical correction in the eyeglasses may make the floor appear to tilt, thus making it difficult for the patient at first. Generally, the doctor will place lenses in a trial frame to allow the patient to try the prescription at the exam. It may take a week or so to get used to the glasses. As glasses or contacts do NOT improve eyesight but are merely an aid and because they make your eyes lazy and thereby making them weaker we strongly advice against the use of them before trying an eyesight improvement program like Eyerobics. In 1997, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved laser treatment of astigmatism. In the case of keratoconus, a corneal transplant is often advised if the astigmatism can not be corrected with hard contact lenses. The major risks of surgery (aside from the surgical risks) are over and under correction of the astigmatism. There is no cure for over correction. Under correction can be solved by repeating the operation. Also lasik is very expensive and can cause scar tissue. Scar tissue is a lot less flexible than normal tissue resulting in a bigger disability to adjust to different circumstances.