An astigmatism is not an eye health problem.  Rather it is an issue with how the eye focuses light.  Like nearsightedness and farsightedness, astigmatisms can easily be corrected with LASIK eye surgery.

Astigmatism usually is caused by an irregularly shaped cornea. Instead of the cornea having a symmetrically round shape, like a baseball, it is shaped more like a football, with one meridian being significantly more curved than the meridian perpendicular to it.

To understand what meridians are, think of the front of the eye like the face of a clock. A line connecting the 12 and 6 is one meridian; a line connecting the 3 and 9 is another.  The steepest and flattest meridians of an eye with astigmatism are called the principal meridians.

In some cases, astigmatism is caused by the shape of the lens inside the eye. This type of astigmatism is called lenticular astigmatism, to differentiate it from the more common corneal astigmatism.

If you are experiencing what you think is an astigmatism, give us a call today to schedule your consultation.