Many times, when patients tell me about previous exams, they seem very distraught that another provider told them they have “stigmatisms in their eyes”.
Let’s talk about different types of prescriptions and demystify the dreaded “stigmatism” diagnosis. There are three main types of eyeglass prescriptions or refractive diagnosis that affect vision. The first is Myopia or being “near-sighted”. Now in the eye world, most terms are the opposite of what you would naturally think when you hear the term. Being Myopic, or near-sighted, means you can see up close (at near) but not far away. This occurs because either the eye is longer than average or the lens inside the eye which helps light focus is too strong. Glasses are then needed to improve distance vision. The opposite of this is Hyperopia or being “far-sighted”. This means that you can see better far away than up close. Not everyone that is far-sighted needs glasses for near right away, it depends on the level of hyperopia and the person’s near vision demands. Hyperopia occurs when the eye is shorter than average or the lens inside the eye which helps light focus is a little too weak.
The last type of prescription is called an “Astigmatism”. This prescription is based on the shape of the front part of the eye called the Cornea. You may have heard some people say “my eyes are shaped like footballs”. Well, the whole eye is not oval and no one looks like a football is protruding out of their head. The front surface of the eye is curved, so when one curve is steeper and the other curve is flatter (like a football has different curvatures compared to a spherical basketball), the difference between those curvatures is called an Astigmatism. Because the difference in curvature affects how light enters the eye, people with Astigmatism tend to have blur for both distance and near. The level of blur depends on how different those curves are. An Astigmatism can also cause more light scatter and can contribute to increased glare driving at night. One of the benefits of having an Astigmatism is that it’s based on the shape of the eye and that doesn’t tend to change as much with time; whereas myopia and hyperopia do tend to progress and change throughout a person’s lifetime.
Having an Astigmatism is VERY normal. In fact, most people are not perfect so most people don’t have perfectly spherical front surfaces. Almost everyone has at least a little bit of Astigmatism. So don’t be nervous or sad, because this type of prescription is very common and easily corrected with glasses. What makes me so sad is that some patients will come in and say they were told in the past that they could not wear contact lenses because of their Astigmatism. This may have been true in the past many years ago. As someone whose entire prescription is Astigmatism, I can tell you that for a while we were the “forgotten child” of contact lens companies. But that has significantly changed over the last 10 years. Not only are there more lens materials available, but the options for prescription correction have expanded dramatically. I have yet to see a prescription that cannot wear some form of contact lenses. So fear not my fellow Astigmatic friends, this is not a degenerative disease and there are a plethora of glasses and contact lens options available for our “football-shaped” eyes. If you’re interested in trying any of these options to improve the quality of your vision or that pesky starburst glare blinding you at night when driving, call the office for an examination and consultation today.