It’s definitely not a disease, it’s certainly not contagious, and nobody is working on a better vaccine for it…though the way people talk about it you would wonder sometimes. I hear it all the time, in a scared voice, “I don’t have that Stigmatism do I?”
I’ll do my absolute best to explain astigmatism without any props, though those of you that know me know that I love props. Here goes. Astigmatism is the difference of the prescription of an eye in one meridian compared to another. Maybe you should read that again. For an eye that is not in focus, there are three types of spectacle prescriptions that can correct that focus; near sighted, far sighted and astigmatism. This is true, but in a way astigmatism is just a variation of the first two.
For example, let’s say that my right eye is nearsighted. We’re talking ONLY about my right eye, not both eyes. My right eye is five diopters nearsighted in the horizontal meridian (going left to right – ear to ear), but it is seven diopters nearsighted in the vertical meridian (going up and down – forehead to chin). So my right eye is five diopters nearsighted in one direction, but seven diopters nearsighted in the other. The difference of those two meridians is the astigmatism (in this case that’s two…7-5=2). So my right eye has two diopters of astigmatism. As you can see, like I said in the above paragraph, astigmatism is just a variation of nearsightedness and farsightedness. My right eye is a great example. My right eye is nearsighted. It just so happens that it is more nearsighted in one direction than the other. It is seven diopters nearsighted in the horizontal meridian, and 5 diopters nearsighted in the vertical meridian. And by having that difference between the two meridians…I have astigmatism. By the way, glasses prescriptions are written in diopters. I didn’t just make that word up. A diopter is the unit for lenses, just like a pound is to weight or a degree is to temperature.
Astigmatism is very common. Many many people have astigmatism and have no idea they’ve got it. Usually it is in small amounts though, and your eye doctor may not even mention it. Astigmatism can be corrected with glasses and contact lenses. It can also be corrected with LASIK and cataract surgery, so if you have astigmatism it is nothing to worry about. It’s certainly not a disease…so get yourself out of quarantine and enjoy the fall weather while it lasts. It’s my favorite time of year.
I’ll do my absolute best to explain astigmatism without any props, though those of you that know me know that I love props. Here goes. Astigmatism is the difference of the prescription of an eye in one meridian compared to another. Maybe you should read that again. For an eye that is not in focus, there are three types of spectacle prescriptions that can correct that focus; near sighted, far sighted and astigmatism. This is true, but in a way astigmatism is just a variation of the first two.
For example, let’s say that my right eye is nearsighted. We’re talking ONLY about my right eye, not both eyes. My right eye is five diopters nearsighted in the horizontal meridian (going left to right – ear to ear), but it is seven diopters nearsighted in the vertical meridian (going up and down – forehead to chin). So my right eye is five diopters nearsighted in one direction, but seven diopters nearsighted in the other. The difference of those two meridians is the astigmatism (in this case that’s two…7-5=2). So my right eye has two diopters of astigmatism. As you can see, like I said in the above paragraph, astigmatism is just a variation of nearsightedness and farsightedness. My right eye is a great example. My right eye is nearsighted. It just so happens that it is more nearsighted in one direction than the other. It is seven diopters nearsighted in the horizontal meridian, and 5 diopters nearsighted in the vertical meridian. And by having that difference between the two meridians…I have astigmatism. By the way, glasses prescriptions are written in diopters. I didn’t just make that word up. A diopter is the unit for lenses, just like a pound is to weight or a degree is to temperature.
Astigmatism is very common. Many many people have astigmatism and have no idea they’ve got it. Usually it is in small amounts though, and your eye doctor may not even mention it. Astigmatism can be corrected with glasses and contact lenses. It can also be corrected with LASIK and cataract surgery, so if you have astigmatism it is nothing to worry about. It’s certainly not a disease…so get yourself out of quarantine and enjoy the fall weather while it lasts. It’s my favorite time of year.
Dr. Troy Bornhorst is an optometrist trained in Eye Disease and Refractive Surgery management. He currently practices at the Cleveland Eye Clinic – 833 East Broad Street, Elyria, OH 440-366-6969. www.clevelandeyeclinic.com
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