Definition of Astigmatism
Astigmatism is a common vision condition where the cornea or lens of your eye are not perfectly smooth. This causes blurred vision no matter the distance and can requiring corrective lenses or surgery.
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Cause
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Because either your cornea or lens aren't evenly curved, light rays will not refract properly.
Symptoms
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Signs of astigmatism include visual distortions, blurriness, or eyestrain. Each eye could be affected differently, with different degrees of visual problems.
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Diagnosis
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An eye doctor will use various tools to examine your eyes and measure the amount of malformation of your cornea or lens. A keratometer will measure the amount of reflected light coming off your cornea, while a keratoscope can detect and quantify astigmatism.
Treatment
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The two ways to treat astigmatism are the use of corrective lenses to combat the uneven curvature or surgery to reshape the eye.
Occurrence
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Astigmatism is usually present at birth. Other vision conditions such as nearsightedness or farsightedness can occur in conjunction with astigmatism.
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References
- Photo Credit Image by Flickr.com, courtesy of Helga Birna Jónasdóttir
