Astigmatism is thought to be hereditary, so if you have astigmatism, chances are good your children will have it also. The condition often occurs with other vision conditions such as nearsightedness (myopia).
Astigmatism is often incorrectly thought of as an eye disease or eye health problem. It is simply a very common focusing problem that is caused by an irregularity of the curvature of the cornea (the front of the eye).
Astigmatism may be present from birth, or it may develop after an eye injury, disease or surgery. Astigmatism isn't caused or made worse by reading in poor light, sitting too close to the television or squinting.
What causes astigmatism? Astigmatism happens when your cornea or lens has a different shape than normal. The shape makes light bend differently as it enters your eye, causing a refractive error. Doctors don't know what causes astigmatism, and there's no way to prevent it.
Astigmatism is linked to genetics
Mom and Dad can be to blame for your football-shaped corneas. Astigmatism is a genetic trait, just like other eye characteristics such as eye color that get passed on through generations.
Astigmatism is a very common childhood vision problem. Research supported by the National Institutes of Health indicates that about 23% of very young children (from 6 months to 1 year old) have it, but many children grow out of it. By the time they reach school age (5 or 6 years old), only about 9% have astigmatism.
How is astigmatism diagnosed? Starting at about 6 months, children should have regular eye exams to catch conditions like astigmatism, myopia, and hyperopia. An eye doctor (ophthalmologist) will examine the child's eyes and measure the shape of the corneas.
Astigmatism frequently worsens with age. Your cornea can become more irregular due to pressure from your eyelids as they lose muscle tone. Astigmatism generally stays stable until your turn 50. After then, your lens curvature progressively worsens each decade.
Astigmatism is a common visual impairment for which many veterans may not realize they could collect disability compensation.
Myopia may represent the end result of adverse emmetropization feedback generated by low vitamin D-related irregular corneal astigmatism.
Sometimes children outgrow astigmatism as they get older. If young children have a lot of astigmatism in one or both eyes, though, it can lead to another condition called amblyopia. Amblyopia is when the brain does not learn to see clearly with one or both eyes. When it's caught early, the condition can be treated.
Can You go Blind with Astigmatism? Astigmatism can lead to reduced vision, but blindness is not a risk. However, it may be difficult for people with astigmatism to read and write without glasses or contacts because of the blurriness in the distance.
How common is astigmatism? Astigmatism is a common refractive error, occurring in about 1 in 3 of all people. Astigmatism is often present at birth but it can also develop over time, and most often occurs with myopia (nearsightedness) or hyperopia (farsightedness).
African-American and Hispanic ethnicity and modifiable risk factors such as hyperopia, myopia and maternal smoking during pregnancy may be associated with higher risk of astigmatism, according to a cross-sectional study.
Risk Factors
Heredity — a family history of astigmatism, eye disease, or disorders such as keratoconus. Eye surgery — certain types of eye surgery, such as cataract removal. A history of corneal scarring or thinning. A history of excessive nearsightedness or farsightedness.
With astigmatism, the lens of the eye or the cornea, which is the front surface of the eye, has an irregular curve. This can change the way light passes, or refracts, to your retina, causing blurry, fuzzy, or distorted vision.
If you've already been diagnosed with astigmatism, you know this condition can cause blurry vision and make it difficult to see at night, especially when driving. If you're seeing beams of light or light halos when driving at night, astigmatism may be the cause—and you should consult your eye doctor.
With astigmatism, driving at night is dangerous. Proper glasses can lessen that danger, bending the light before it reaches your eyes to reduce glare, halos, streaks, and general blurriness so that you can keep your focus on the road.
Yes, prescription glasses will help with astigmatism symptoms that affect your night vision. If you see halos, starburst patterns, or blurriness around lights at night, then wearing glasses should eliminate or dramatically reduce these distortions.
The risk of astigmatism increased with both the total years of exposure and the average daily duration of screen exposure. Our findings suggested that preschoolers who were exposed to screens during early life might have an increased risk of astigmatism.
Wearing glasses can't make astigmatism worse, even if they are the wrong prescription. Astigmatism is caused by the shape of the eye's cornea or lens, and glasses can't change those.
Despite their popularity, there is no scientific evidence that eye exercises can fix astigmatism, farsightedness, or nearsightedness, according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology.
One natural way to treat astigmatism is to be aware of your head tilting. If you're tilting to one side, try tilting your head in the opposite direction of what feels most comfortable. It will feel uncomfortable at first. Your muscles are used to doing the wrong thing and need retraining.
It is easily corrected, and although astigmatism can cause your vision to be blurry it rarely causes any permanent damage to the health of your eyes. If you experience blurred vision, headaches or eye strain, having a complete eye exam may lead to a diagnosis and treatment of this easily-dealt-with condition.