Astigmatism is a very common vision problem, but most people don't know what it is. Usually it’s caused by an oblong or oval shaped cornea. A normal cornea is round like a basketball, while a cornea with astigmatism is oval like a football. Most types of astigmatism can be corrected with contact lenses.
For people with astigmatism, their vision is distorted. If you only have a small amount of astigmatism, you may not notice it or your vision may be just slightly blurred. However, if astigmatism is not corrected it can give you headaches and distort or blur your vision at all distances. Both children and adults can be astigmatic. Children however, may be unaware of the condition, as they are not likely to complain about their vision. Unfortunately, astigmatism may affect their ability to see well in school and during sports activities, so it's important to have their eyes examined at least annually in order to detect any astigmatism as soon as possible.
Usually astigmatism is inherited. Most people with astigmatism are born with an oblong or oval shaped cornea that can cause their vision to get worse over time. Astigmatism can also result from an eye injury or complications from eye surgery. Astigmatism occurs when the cornea is shaped more like a football than a basketball. This oblong shape causes light rays to focus on two points in the back of your eye, rather than on just one. There are a few different types of astigmatism. Regular, irregular, and residual regular astigmatism is usually easy to correct, but irregular astigmatism can sometimes be more difficult to correct. Residual astigmatism is caused from an oblong shaped lens in the eye rather than from the cornea as is the case with regular and irregular.
There are several ways to correct astigmatism, including glasses and contact lenses. Most people with astigmatism don’t know they can wear contact lenses. Years ago this was true, but now there are many contact lens options that can correct astigmatism.
One type of lens is called a toric contact lens. Toric lenses have a cylindrical correction in them that eliminates the astigmatism while the lens is worn. If necessary, toric lenses can include a prescription for nearsightedness or farsightedness.
While soft toric lenses work well for some people, you'll likely enjoy the clearer crisper vision that you get from a Contex GP toric contact lens.
Bausch & Lomb Vision Shaping Treatment™ and the Contex OK® Lens improve your vision while you sleep. Worn while you sleep this method improves your astigmatism so that when you remove your lenses you have better vision.
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