Astigmatism is a mild imperfection in your eyes that can cause mild vision problems. It can easily be corrected by wearing contact lenses, eyeglasses or through surgery. It occurs due to minor imperfection in the curvature of the eyes. A person having astigmatism will have slightly different curvature in one or both of his eyes. The curvature may not be smooth in all the sides in the cornea. For some people it occurs if the eye is not fully in round shape having slight difference in corners or on one side.
How It Occurs?
Eyes are normally round shaped resembling a sphere. On seeing an object, the light enters the eye and by reflection it creates an image of the object in the lens thus giving clear view of the object. But a person with astigmatism the reflection may not be even causing blurry images or wavy images of the object.
Symptoms
Blurred vision, trouble in seeing distant objects, strain on the affect eye/eyes, and headaches are some of the indicators of astigmatism. If you have any of the above symptoms or if your vision is not clear as before or if you have trouble reading/writing then it is time for you to get your eyes tested with the doctor.
Risk Factors
People who are above 50 years, people with diabetes (for long period), and people with high blood pressure are more prone to develop astigmatism than others. There will be some degree of astigmatism for all the persons who have crossed 40 years.
Astigmatism Causes
Astigmatism occurs when the cornea is not evenly shaped leading to refractive error. When there is smooth curvature then the image will be perfectly shaped. But if the surface curvature is not smooth or bent on one side then it produces distortive image. An individual with astigmatism will have cornea that is not smoothly curved causing uneven focus producing refractive error.