What exactly is an astigmatism?

Question

I recently went to the eye doctor and discovered that I have an astigmatism and am farsighted. I am just a little confused on what exactly an astigmatism is and what its effects are. I have really bad anxiety and I wonder if this could cause the astigmatism to be worse.

Answer 1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astigmatism

Answer 2

No. Anxiety will not make your astigmatism worse. It's nothing to worry about, it is a common thing (notice I didn't say "problem?"), as common as being farsighted or nearsighted.

Basically an astigmatism is when the cornea is oblong, rather than round.   Usually it's just hereditary. Sometimes it's other things, but rarely.

So, what does that mean? It means that the lens creates two images on the back of the eye, so you get some blurred vision. Correctable? Yes, usually with corrective lenses (aka glasses) or contact lenses.

Answer 3

Loss of smoothness of the cornea is astigmatism which can cause refractory problems

Answer 4

the way my eye doc explained it to me was...a normal cornea is round, one with astigmatism is slightly misshapen, he said kinda like a football.  It distorts the images coming in to your eye which is why you can't see properly.  When I had laser surgery to correct my astigmatism, they evened out my corneas, and now I can see fine.