True or false: If you have astigmatism, you can’t wear contact lenses, especially soft lenses. Answer: FALSE. New technology now allows us to correct even high amounts of astigmatism with contact lenses…yes, even soft contact lenses!
Astigmatism is a refractive condition of the eye that is caused by its shape, just like myopia (nearsight) and hyperopia (farsight). Nearsight is caused by an eye that is too long, while farsight is caused by an eye that is too short. Astigmatism is caused by an eye that has two different powers, which cause a splitting of an image into two focus points. The most common form is corneal astigmatism, in which the clear front window of the eye is not perfectly spherical, but warped, with two unequal curvatures. These unequal curvatures result in magnification differences and cause blurry vision, shadows seen around objects, eye muscle spasms, eyestrain, and headaches.
Approximately 84% of the population have astigmatism…it is by far the most common refractive problem, more than nearsight and farsight put together!
Both eyeglasses and contact lenses correct astigmatism, but contact lenses do a much better job. Astigmatism eyeglasses cause distortion just like those "Fun House" mirrors that make you look tall and skinny or short and fat…there is more magnification in one direction than the opposite. Most of the distortion occurs away from the lens centers, so large eyeglass frames cause more problems than small frames. In addition, when you move, the side vision appears to "swim". Contact lenses do not cause any of these problems because the eyes are always seeing through the center of the lenses, where there is no distortion! When you move your eyes, the contact lenses move too.
Currently there are 42 FDA approved soft toric (astigmatism) contact lenses available, with different materials and designs to allow knowledgeable doctors to custom fit anyone with any amount of astigmatism.
Most doctors still tell people that they can’t wear contacts if they have astigmatism. The truth is that it is too time consuming for them to fit astigmatism contacts, or they have not kept up with new contact lens technology.
You really do have to try them for yourself. If you already use astigmatism contacts, or you’ve tried them unsuccessfully in the past, call any of our offices and our doctors will be happy to discuss what’s new for you.
