Can Surgery Fix an Astigmatism?

During the last few decades a variety of methods to treat an astigmatism have grown widely accepted.  An astigmatism is a defect in your eye or in the lens that is caused by an abnormality on the spherical shape of your eye which distorts images. When a patient has an astigmatism, the light rays entering the eye are prevented from meeting to come to a common focus point.  The most common treatment has been to wear eyeglasses or contact lenses and more recently laser surgery correction. Although all three treatment options are acceptable in treating an astigmatism it is important to understand the options to make an informed decision regarding treatment based on your lifestyle.

Whether you are near sighted, far sighted, have blurry vision, or other sight issues, then you most likely have an astigmatism.  A diagnosis is a simple eye exam with an optometrist where they can tell you if you are suffering from an astigmatism or another eye deficiency.  There are three main forms of astigmatism including:

• Myopic Astigmatism: Otherwise known as nearsightedness means that either one or both of your eyes are myopic, shortsighted, in varying degrees.
• Hyperopic Astigmatism: Otherwise known as farsightedness means that either one or both of your eyes are hyperopic in varying degrees.
• Mixed Astigmatism: This occurs when both types of astigmatisms are present, myopic astigmatism in one eye and hyperopic in the other.

Astigmatisms can be either regular or irregular.  With a regular astigmatism the principal meridians are perpendicular to one another, ninety degrees apart. With an irregular astigmatism the principal meridians are not perpendicular.  The most common is a regular corneal astigmatism meaning that the front of the eyes surface is oval in shape.

LASIK surgery is one of the ways that an astigmatism can be fixed.  Laser vision surgery corrects the asymmetrical shape of the front surface of the eye, the cornea.  Lasik takes the cornea of the eye from the shape of a football, the astigmatism, back to the shape of a baseball.  The lasers reshape the cornea and in turn correct the astigmatism.

Laser surgery correction to treat an astigmatism is usually done in under fifteen minutes and can be completed without anesthesia.  The reshaping of the cornea in the eye often takes under a minute per eye.  LASIK surgery is done with the advanced technology of an eye tracker that works by monitoring your eyes position and adjusting the laser as needed throughout the surgery.
Astigmatisms are easily corrected with glasses and contacts but if you lead a more active lifestyle or want added convenience in your life consider LASIK vision correction.

If you are looking to reduce or even get rid of your eye glasses and/or contacts let us at Rohr Eye & Laser Center help you! We offer several types of LASIK eye surgery including PRK, AK, CK, Cataracts surgery and more. We perform all these eye laser treatments with state of the art equipment. We are a leader in laser vision correction, and our goal is to help you achieve superior vision. Contact us today or view our website http://www.michiganlasik.com/ to schedule an appointment.