Contacts for Astigmatism

There is a rumor circulating that you cannot use contacts for astigmatism, but this is not actually true. The truth is that there is new technology that is allowing for even high amounts of astigmatism to be corrected using all types of contact lenses, even the soft varieties!

Astigmatism is defined as being a refractive condition of your eye, caused by the shape of the eye just as nearsightedness or myopia and farsightedness or hyperopia. Nearsightedness is caused by having an eye that is much too long, where as far sightedness is caused by having an eye that is much too short. Astigmatism, on the other hand, is caused when the eye has two different powers, causing a splitting of your vision into two different focus points. The most common type of astigmatism is corneal astigmatism.

 

In corneal astigmatism, the clear front window in your eye is not completely spherical as it is meant to be. Instead, it is warped, and has two curvatures that are unequal. These curvatures unfortunately result in differences in magnification and therefore blurry vision is caused, as well as the perception of shadows around objects, eye strain, spasms of the eye muscles and even headaches.

 

Approximately 84% out of the population is said to have some degree of astigmatism, making it the most common of all refractive eye issues, more so than even nearsightedness and farsightedness combined.

 

Both eyeglasses and contact lenses are capable of correcting problems associated with astigmatism. It is said, however, that using contacts for astigmatism has far improved effects. Astigmatism eye glasses are capable of causing distortion through more magnification, and these can actually cause more vision problems rather than necessarily correcting all of the vision problems. Using contacts for astigmatism on the other hand does not cause any of these types of problems because you will be seeing through the middle of the lenses, and there is no distortion involved. When you are moving your eyes to see different things, the contacts are also moving, so there is never any distortion to deal with.

 

There are 42 different types of contacts for astigmatism that have been approved by the FDA. Known as soft toric contact lenses, these lenses are designed specifically to help patients deal with their astigmatism without distortion of their vision in any way. These lenses are available in a variety of different materials that allows for them to be custom fit to any patient with any degree of astigmatism for the best possible results.

 

Some doctors do not believe that there are contacts capable of correcting astigmatism, but the truth is that these contacts simply take a little more time to be properly fit. If you are dealing with astigmatism, specifically ask prospective optometrists if they can fit you with contacts specifically designed for patients with astigmatism. If they tell you that they can, then you have chosen an optometrist worth sticking with.