LASIK surgery and astigmatism

Astigmatism is one of the most common vision problems that LASIK surgery is utilized to repair. Astigmatism can happen with nearsightedness, farsightedness, or simply on its own. Astigmatism often causes distorted and blurry vision for both close and distant points. It is common for sufferers of astigmatism to experience strain with their eyes that can lead to terrible headaches.

Astigmatism is caused by a misshapen cornea. A normal cornea is going to be round like a ball's surface while a cornea that is astigmatic will be oblong. There are two curves to the astigmatic cornea, one which is flat while the other is steep. Most astigmatism cases have curves whose meridians are ninety degrees from each other.

Then there is irregular astigmatism where they are either less or more than ninety degrees apart. This will cause any light that comes into the eye gather at many points instead of just one, resulting in the eye sending mixed signals to your brain that conflict with one another, causing blurry and distorted images. Astigmatism can be inherited, but can also result from a disease or injury in the eye.

While astigmatism can be corrected through contacts and glasses, it can also easily be treated with LASIK surgery. LASIK surgery for astigmatism is a very effective and permanent solution. Every year tens of thousands of sufferers of astigmatism get relief though LASIK surgery techniques that are specifically designed to correct it.

To correct astigmatism, your eye surgeon will try to make the steep side of the cornea flatter. This reshapes the cornea from an oblong shape to a round one. The pulses of the laser are distributed precisely to the steepest curve's axis. LASIK surgery will cause the eye to be able to better focus on the rays of light that enter it. The result is crisp, clear vision. LASIK surgery is the only treatment option for astigmatism that truly attacks the root cause instead of just addressing the symptoms.