LASIK & Your Astigmatism
Many people hear that they have astigmatism and it means almost nothing to them except the fact that they cannot see well. Astigmatism is a little harder to correct than just simple nearsightedness or farsightedness. Glasses and contacts may help, but only while you are wearing them.
What is Astigmatism?
Your eyeball is a round sphere. When you are looking at something, your eye detects the light reflected off of the object. This light enters your eye through the cornea, where it is then refracted onto the retina. The retina then sends images to your brain.
If your cornea is not a perfect circle shape, it can distort the light and make it so the light does not reach the retina accurately.
For someone who has astigmatism, their cornea is slight oblong, or shaped more like a football. This results in the person seeing images as extremely blurry.
Can LASIK correct astigmatism?
Many optometrists, or eye doctors, tell their patients that LASIK cannot correct astigmatism. This is untrue.
LASIK CAN correct astigmatism
However, in order to be 100% sure that LASIK can correct your personal degree of astigmatism, you must have a LASIK exam. It’s the only true way to find out if LASIK can help.
How LASIK Corrects Astigmatism
An ophthalmologist, or eye surgeon, can correct astigmatism with a LASIK laser. The laser will reshape the cornea into a round shape, thus allowing light to accurately refract directly on the retina.
Our LASIK patients are amazed that as soon as the surgery is over, they can see more clearly than they ever have before. The correction with LASIK is fast and permanent. You’ll be able to see clearly right away.
We encourage everyone to participate in our Free LASIK Consultation. Without any obligations, you can find out if you are a candidate, regardless of your degree of astigmatism, and then you can decide if you would like to further pursue the question of “Should you have LASIK?”