Astigmatism occurs when the cornea – the clear covering over your eye – is slightly irregular in shape. This irregularity prevents light from adequately entering your eye, resulting in blurry vision at any or all distances. In addition to being born with it, you can develop astigmatism after having an eye disease, eye injury, or eye surgery.
Not treating your astigmatism won’t worsen, but it won’t improve it. If you don’t correct astigmatism, you’ll likely experience continually blurred vision, eyestrain, headaches, poor night vision, and constant squinting. We offer several astigmatism treatments at New York Laser Vision that are practical and easy ways to correct the issue.
Options for correcting astigmatism
The goal of treating astigmatism is to improve vision clarity and eye comfort. Treatment options for astigmatism are similar to nearsightedness and farsightedness. You can use eyeglasses, contact lenses, or refractive surgeries, including replacing your misshapen lenses with artificial lenses.
Eyeglasses
Eyeglasses are made with lenses that help compensate for the uneven shape of your eye by properly bending light into your eye. The same glasses can correct for near or farsightedness.
Contact lenses
Soft contact lenses, called toric lenses, can handle astigmatism because they are different than typical lenses. Each toric lens has a small vertical line toward the edge of the lens, which is to be oriented to the top of your eye when placing the contact lens. The lens doesn’t rotate like a regular contact; instead, it stays trained to correct the cornea's shape.
Refractive surgery
We can correct astigmatism with refractive surgery techniques that selectively reshape the curves of your cornea to make it smooth and symmetrical, which will be further discussed later.
Natural methods
You might not be comfortable with contact lenses or surgical procedures to correct your astigmatism, but there are some natural methods that you can try in the meantime. The first step would be to begin taking eye vitamins. What you eat impacts your eye health and overall well-being, so eating right and supplementing when necessary is the key to correcting minor vision problems.
Some essential eye vitamins that may help correct astigmatism include:
- Vitamin A
- Vitamin B
- Vitamin C
Reducing eye strain is also vital in correcting astigmatism. Near-point vision stress, such as during or after excessive reading or screen time, can cause eye strain, fatigue, and headaches. Some steps you can take to reduce eye strain include:
- Give your eyes a break when you’re reading or working on a computer screen
- Do routine eye exercises to strengthen the eye muscles
- Frequently blink your eyes, as blinking allows our eyes to lubricate themselves and relieve some of the stress and dryness
- Ensure you have excellent lighting in the area where you are working
Additionally, the air conditioning and heating also dry out the air, which leads to irritation and stress on your eyes. Add a humidifier to your frequently occupied spaces, such as your bedroom or office, to remedy the issue.
LASIK
As was previously mentioned, an option to correct astigmatism includes refractive surgery; specifically, Laser-assisted in-situ keratomileusis, or LASIK.
In this surgery, a laser sculpts the shape of the cornea. When necessary, the laser can make slits in the cornea, called relaxing corneal incisions, which give the cornea a more normal round shape, correcting for astigmatism. With LASIK, you eliminate the need for other astigmatism corrective measures such as eyeglasses and contact lenses.
New York Laser Vision can help you find the best way to correct astigmatism
At New York Laser Vision, we can diagnose astigmatism with a comprehensive eye exam. We’ll perform various tests to measure your visual acuity and check your refraction to determine how accurately your eyes bend light. Then we check the level of correction you’ll need to correct for your astigmatism. When you come in to see us, Dr. Giyaur and her team can also give you an idea of how much your options for astigmatism correction will cost so you can find the best way to correct your vision.
If you’re interested in learning more about treating your astigmatism, please contact us for a consultation at 888-389-3277 or fill out our contact us form. We will discuss your needs and concerns and determine your best course of action.
