Astigmatism and Cataract Surgery
What is an Astigmatism?
Astigmatism is a common vision problem and is usually caused by an irregularly shaped cornea. To illustrate what astigmatism really is, compare an egg to a ping-pong ball, or a football to a basketball. Because they are not perfectly round, the egg and football have lots of astigmatism, whereas the ping-pong ball and the basketball have none.
Similarly, two round surfaces in the eye are responsible for focusing light: the clear outer window of the eye called the cornea and the lens, which resides just behind the colored part of the eye (the iris). If one or both of these surfaces are NOT perfectly spherical or round, we say that astigmatism is present.
ASTIGMATISM may cause:
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distortion
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blurred vision
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eyestrain
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headaches
Small amounts of astigmatism can be ignored, but if any of its symptoms are present, astigmatism can be corrected by glasses or contact lenses.
Astigmatism and Cataract Surgery
Cataract surgery by itself will not correct astigmatism. For more information on cataracts, please see our earlier post. Successful cataract surgery is only part of the story in regaining quality vision for patients with cataracts. Until recently, the only vision correction options for astigmatism correction after cataract surgery were eyeglasses or contact lenses. However, the AcrySof® Toric IOL now makes it possible to correct the astigmatism after cataract surgery.
The technology behind the AcrySof® Toric IOL offers precise astigmatic correction that can reduce or may even eliminate corneal astigmatism. It delivers significantly improved distance-vision without glasses or contacts for cataract patients with pre-existing astigmatism.
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