For mild or moderate astigmatism, polycarbonate lenses are a great option. But if your astigmatism is more severe (say, greater than +/-4.0 diopters), high-index lenses will give you the vision correction you need while maintaining a thin profile. An anti-reflective coating is a must for glasses for astigmatism.
Toric contact lenses provide more comfort for patients with astigmatism and, according to the American Optometric Association, they also provide a “high degree of accuracy and producibility.” Toric lenses are made to bend light in a direction to correct astigmatism.
Eyeglasses for astigmatism include a special cylindrical lens to compensate for how light passes through the cornea. Generally, a single-vision lens is prescribed, but in some patients over 40 years old, an eye doctor might recommend a bifocal or progressive.
Q: Can you wear regular contact lenses if you have astigmatism? A: No, if you have astigmatism, it's essential that you wear specialized contact lenses because your condition can worsen if not. Regular contact lenses do not cover your cornea's entirety, which will impair your ability to see even further.
Vision problems linked to astigmatism are most often corrected using prescription lenses with a specialized cylindrical lens. This unique lens provides additional power to a targeted area of the visual field.
A rare condition known as keratoconus, in which the cornea thins and becomes cone-shaped, can also result in severe astigmatism. This condition cannot be corrected with glasses, and has to be treated by the pressure of contact lenses. In some cases, patients with keratoconus must undergo a corneal transplant.
Downsides include the lenses' mobility in the eyes, which can make vision blurry or inconsistent. Toric lenses are also more expensive than regular contact lenses. If you are willing to take the extra time with your optometrist to fit toric contact lenses properly, they can be a good choice to manage your astigmatism.
Astigmatism frequently worsens with age. Your cornea can become more irregular due to pressure from your eyelids as they lose muscle tone. Astigmatism generally stays stable until your turn 50. After then, your lens curvature progressively worsens each decade.
Toric contacts for astigmatism are more expensive than spherical (non-toric) contacts for nearsightedness or farsightedness. Multifocal and bifocal contacts for presbyopia are more expensive than contacts for nearsightedness or farsightedness.
People who need contacts for astigmatism will pay more. In fact, the average cost of contacts per box for those with astigmatism is closer to between $50 and $70 per box, with an average annual cost of around $500 to $700 or more.
Simply put, the higher the prescription, the thicker the lens. In addition, prescriptions with moderate to high astigmatism correction often result in thicker lenses.
Astigmatism is measured in diopters (D), a unit of refractive or optical power. A perfect eye has 0 D. Most people have a mild prescription, between 0.5 to 0.75 D.
In fact, excessive screen time can even cause digital eye strain, particularly for those with uncorrected astigmatism. Fortunately, blue light blocking lenses can alleviate this discomfort, and make working on your laptop or texting on your phone much more enjoyable.
Challenges in Wearing Toric Lens Contacts
Lenses for astigmatism have positioning techniques that include weighting and often a bit of suction to keep them in place on the eye. This can make them a bit less comfortable and more difficult to remove at the end of the day than non-toric lens types.
High-index lenses are eyeglass lenses that are designed to be thinner and lighter than regular lenses. They are generally recommended for people who have significantly high refractive errors and strong prescriptions for nearsightedness, farsightedness, or astigmatism.
The Toric IOL is Medicare approved. Medicare and most insurance companies will cover a portion of the cost of this procedure. New insurance guidelines allow the patient to pay the additional costs associated with the Premium Toric IOL because of its astigmatism correction properties.
“For astigmatism treatment at the time of cataract surgery, use toric IOLs whenever you can—roughly speaking, for with-the-rule astigmatism greater than 1.5 D and against-the-rule greater than 0.4 D,” recommends Dr. Raviv.
Astigmatism-correcting IOLs can permanently correct astigmatism and improve distance vision in a single step. Toric lens implants are astigmatism-correcting IOLs designed with a specific shape that counterbalances the corneal curvature imperfection that creates astigmatism in the first place.
One natural way to treat astigmatism is to be aware of your head tilting. If you're tilting to one side, try tilting your head in the opposite direction of what feels most comfortable. It will feel uncomfortable at first. Your muscles are used to doing the wrong thing and need retraining.
Does astigmatism affect night driving? Driving at night is difficult enough for those with perfect vision — but for people with astigmatism, it can be even more difficult. In low light conditions, the blurry vision associated with astigmatism can become worse.
If the lens is moving around on your eye and not centered, your vision will be affected. Those with astigmatism will experience blurry vision from any lens movement since toric contact lenses have a particular orientation. If this is a recurring problem, your doctor may need to perform another contact lens fitting.
Toric contact lenses can rectify astigmatism. The main difference between these and regular lenses is the design. Regular lenses have just one power, but toric lenses have two: one for distance vision and one for astigmatism.
If you're comfortable wearing glasses after cataract surgery, a monofocal lens may be the right choice. If you want to avoid wearing distance glasses after cataract surgery and have astigmatism, a toric lens might be appropriate.
Myopic astigmatism is astigmatism in an eye that is nearsighted. Hyperopic astigmatism is astigmatism in an eye that is farsighted. Mixed astigmatism is astigmatism in an eye that is both nearsighted and farsighted, because light is hitting both in front of and behind the retina.