Is your vision blurry, whether you’re looking at something up close or far away? Do you catch yourself squinting frequently and experience headaches and eye strain?
If so, you may be among the millions worldwide with astigmatism. Astigmatism is so common that one in three people have it.
Irregular curvature of the eye causes this kind of refractive error. The eye should be evenly round, like a basketball. But your eye is more like an oval or a football if you have astigmatism.
Glasses or contacts can offer a temporary solution but can be a hassle. Four surgical methods can clarify your life if you want to correct your vision permanently. Keep reading to find out how we can correct astigmatism for good!
LASIK and ZEISS SMILE
Both LASIK and ZEISS SMILE are procedures that can correct astigmatism. They allow many patients to achieve total visual freedom from glasses and contact lenses.
During LASIK, your surgeon uses an excimer and femtosecond laser to even out the cornea’s curvature. When your cornea is irregularly curved, it cannot bend light correctly, causing astigmatism.
With ZEISS SMILE, a femtosecond laser creates a small incision in the cornea. After making the incision, a small piece of tissue called a lenticule is removed.
Creating the lenticule and removing it reshapes the cornea, allowing it to be more uniform for improved vision.
Astigmatism-Correcting Lens Implants
Some people with cataracts also have astigmatism. In this case, both cataracts and astigmatism can be addressed with one procedure. Cataract surgery that utilizes an astigmatism-correcting lens implant helps correct both vision conditions.
Cataract surgery removes your eye’s natural lens, where a cataract has formed. Your cataract surgeon then implants an artificial lens called an intraocular lens.
If you have astigmatism, you can have a toric lens implanted. Toric lenses are the only intraocular lenses that specifically treat astigmatism, making them an excellent choice for patients with astigmatism.
In addition to providing cataract-free vision, a toric lens permanently corrects blurriness caused by astigmatism. This can dramatically improve your distance vision. Toric lenses can correct nearsightedness and farsightedness as well.
Laser Cataract Surgery
Lastly, you can correct astigmatism with laser cataract surgery. This is another method of reshaping the cornea.
Using a laser during cataract surgery allows for higher precision, faster recovery, and better patient visual outcomes.
Limbal Relaxing Incisions
Patients with astigmatism can also correct their refractive error with limbal relaxing incisions during cataract surgery. Your cataract surgeon creates tiny arc-shaped incisions along the edges of the cornea’s surface as a part of your cataract procedure.
One may be enough, or you may need several. The incisions may be made using a laser or by hand.
Limbal relaxing incisions effectively reshape the cornea with an even curvature. That way, it can bend light correctly, and you can see clearly.
Are you ready to correct your astigmatism and see more clearly? We are happy to discuss your options and help select the best one for you. See if you’re a LASIK or SMILE candidate by taking our self-test!
Contact Fichte, Endl & Elmer Eyecare at 1-800-309-2020 to request an appointment in Buffalo, NY, today! Isn’t it time to see the world without anything holding you back?
