Overview

Astigmatism (uh-STIG-muh-tiz-um) is a common and generally treatable imperfection in

the curvature of your eye that causes blurred distance and near vision.

Astigmatism occurs when either the front surface of your eye (cornea) or the lens, inside
your eye, has mismatched curves. Instead of having one curve like a round ball, the
surface is egg shaped. This causes blurred vision at all distances.

Astigmatism is often present at birth and may occur in combination with

nearsightedness or farsightedness. Often it's not pronounced enough to require
corrective action. When it is, your treatment options are corrective lenses or surgery.

Symptoms

Signs and symptoms of astigmatism may include:

 Blurred or distorted vision

 Eyestrain or discomfort

 Headaches

 Difficulty with night vision

 Squinting

Causes

Simplified anatomy of the eye

Astigmatism
Your eye has two structures with curved surfaces that bend (refract) light onto the
retina, which makes the images:
  The cornea, the clear front surface of your eye along with the tear film

 The lens, a clear structure inside your eye that changes shape to help focus on near
objects

In a perfectly shaped eye, each of these elements has a round curvature, like the
surface of a smooth ball. A cornea and lens with such curvature bend (refract) all
incoming light equally to make a sharply focused image directly on the retina, at the
back of your eye.

A refractive error

If either your cornea or lens is egg shaped with two mismatched curves, light rays aren't
bent the same, which forms two different images. These two images overlap or combine
and result in blurred vision. Astigmatism is a type of refractive error.

Astigmatism occurs when your cornea or lens is curved more steeply in one direction
than in another. You have corneal astigmatism if your cornea has mismatched curves.
You have lenticular astigmatism if your lens has mismatched curves.

Either type of astigmatism can cause blurred vision. Blurred vision may occur more in
one direction, either horizontally, vertically or diagonally.

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.
Astigmatism is a common vision condition that causes blurred vision. It occurs
when the cornea (the clear front cover of the eye) is irregularly shaped or
sometimes because of the curvature of the lens inside the eye.

An irregularly shaped cornea or lens prevents light from focusing properly on the
retina, the light-sensitive surface at the back of the eye. As a result, vision becomes
blurred at any distance. This can lead to eye discomfort and headaches.

Astigmatism frequently occurs with other vision conditions like myopia

(nearsightedness) and hyperopia (farsightedness). Together these vision conditions
are referred to as refractive errors because they affect how the eyes bend or
"refract" light.

There are many causes to astigmatism. It can be hereditary and is usually present
from birth. It can decrease or increase over time.

CAUSES
The curvature of the cornea and lens bends the light entering the eye in order to focus it precisely on
the retina at the back of the eye. In astigmatism, the surface of the cornea or lens has a somewhat
different curvature.

the surface of the cornea is shaped more like a football instead of round like a basketball, the eye is
unable to focus light rays to a single point. Vision becomes out of focus at any distance.

In addition, the curvature of the lens inside the eye can change, resulting in an increase or decrease
in astigmatism. This change frequently occurs in adulthood and can precede the development of
naturally occurring cataracts.

Sometimes astigmatism may develop following an eye injury or eye surgery.

Astigmatism also occurs due to a relatively rare condition called keratoconus in which the cornea
becomes progressively thinner and cone-shaped. This results in a large amount of astigmatism,
which causes poor vision that cannot be clearly corrected with eyeglasses. People with keratoconus
usually need contact lenses for clear vision and eventually may need a corneal transplant.