About a third of the population suffers from some form of astigmatism, which is an abnormal shape of the cornea or the eye lens. The cornea and lens should be round, but if they are distorted in any way, light may bend unequally as it enters the eye. This causes blurriness or distortion.
Astigmatism can occur with other vision conditions, such as myopia (nearsightedness) or presbyopia (farsightedness). It can compound the challenge of correcting vision with contact lenses or glasses. Lenses “cancel” the distortion of astigmatism by bending light in the opposite direction, but a shift in the lens (like an astigmatism-correcting contact rotating in the eye) may cause the blurriness to return.
That’s one reason why many patients with astigmatism consider LASIK® vision correction as an option. LASIK can help astigmatism by reshaping the cornea to correct its abnormalities, giving the patient the ability to see images clearer and more precisely.
Here’s how the LASIK procedure works: A cool beam of ultraviolet laser light removes microscopic bits of tissue from the cornea. The blade-free laser can be used to smooth the cornea for astigmatism, flatten it for nearsightedness, or steepen it for farsightedness. LASIK can correct several vision conditions in the same procedure.
3-D Computer Mapping Of The Eye
Not all astigmatism is correctable with LASIK, which is why Campbell Cunningham Laser Center carefully screens each candidate to determine if LASIK can help. Today, every patient gets a precisely customized LASIK procedure, thanks to three-dimensional mapping of the eye before surgery.
Campbell Cunningham Laser Center in Knoxville uses VISX™ Advanced CustomVue™ technology to provide a 3-D map the cornea which allows the VISX™ STAR S4 IR Laser System to perform Custom LASIK using the blade freeVISX Intralase™, a femtosecond laser. This technology is also used to perform LASIK on military pilots, astronauts and other people who must have the most precise vision.
Can LASIK Work For Your Astigmatism? Find Out Fast With Our “Am I A Candidate?” Questionnaire
To see if your astigmatism can be helped with LASIK vision correction, all you need to invest is a few minutes. Click on our questionnaire and answer a few simple questions. The staff at the Campbell Cunningham Laser Center will let you know if your eye health appears to be suitable for LASIK.
Which could mean a big change in your life.
