We’ve seen quite a few patients come through our office who are frustrated because they have astigmatism, they wear contacts lenses, and they’ve heard there isn’t any treatment that can fix their problem completely. They are tired of wearing contact lenses and not being able to see the clock in the morning but, as far as they know, they’ll just have to live with it.
The idea that “LASIK doesn’t work for astigmatism” is a complete myth. LASIK surgery works perfectly for astigmatism and we continue to see the quality of life for many contact-wearing patients improve dramatically post-procedure.
Astigmatism + LASIK = No More Contacts
The word “astigmatism” derives from the Greek “stigma,” meaning “point.” It refers to the fact that when your eye focuses light, it focuses that light to a point. An eye that does not focus light to a point is said to have astigmatism. The most likely cause of astigmatism for our patients is that their cornea is not perfectly round.
The shape of an eye should be round like a basketball, but astigmatism shapes the eye like a football with two points on either end. When the eye is round like a basketball, light is brought into perfectly sharp focus when passing through the rounded cornea. But when the eye is shaped like a football and light does not focus to a point, the vision is blurry. Astigmatism also frequently co-exists with nearsightedness and farsightedness. It is very common that when we are correcting someone’s vision, we are correcting multiple issues, like myopia and astigmatism.
Many patients with astigmatism have trouble with their contacts because, frequently, contacts have a tough time fitting over a cornea that is not round. So, it is not uncommon that some of our patients who have the most problems with contact lenses are our patients who have significant amount of astigmatism.
LASIK can reshape the cornea to make it more spherical and therefore has the potential to provide you with excellent vision. Furthermore, at Stahl, we do this all in a bladeless, pain-free manner, by utilizing the most advanced technology, namely an Intralase iFs laser.
We’ve seen countless contact-wearers amazed at the difference in their vision and quality of life after receiving LASIK.
Want more information?
- Save $1100 on LASIK if you wear contacts!
- Schedule an appointment in Garden City, Hauppauge, or Manhattan.
