Enjoy the view with binoculars, not glasses. Discover LASIK.

Can LASIK Treat Astigmatism?
By Niraj Desai, M.D.
Many of us have endured that
peering glare from over the
reading glasses of our eye doctor
as they’ve leaned forward and
said , “I’m sorry, but you have
aSTIGMAtism’. I am not sure about
you, but the first time I heard this
from my eye doctor when I was
8, I only heard ‘STIGMA’! I walked
away stigmatized, I suppose - and
confused wondering what visual
perils lay ahead of me!
Niraj Desai, MD.
I don’t think I really understood
what astigmatism was until I
studied the eye in medical school.
Though simple in concept,
explaining astigmatism to my patients has always been a bit
challenging. It always ends up being a conversation about
balls - footballs and soccer balls to be specific. God forbid I had a
patient from a ‘futbol’ playing background as that conversation
usually ended up in a discussion about why American football is
played with your hands and still called ‘foot’ball. Or, how a soccer
ball is really a football in the true sense. I decided to be more of
a sporting secularist and I’ve modified my conversation now to
include golf balls and eggs. Everyone may not like golf, but most
people like eggs! They’re both white, small and hard to confuse.
Cataract/Refractive
Surgeon
Though, I have had the odd golfer tell me that his astigmatism is so
bad, it makes his golf ball look like an egg! But, I suppose that is the
point - let me explain with the aid of some simple diagrams that
don’t involve balls or eggs.
The best way to understand this diagram is to follow the beam of
light from left to right. As the beam of light enters the eye, it is first
bent by the cornea (the window of the eye) and then by the natural
lens of the eye. In the diagram, the light appears NOT to come to a
sharp focus, but instead has several points where it comes to focus
on to the retina (light processing tissue). If you look at the smaller
eye diagram you see how light comes to a sharp focus when there
is no astigmatism. When discussing astigmatism with patients,
your doctor is referring to the shape of your cornea, which is the
most important surface for the bending of light. A golf ball has
a perfectly spherical surface. Should your cornea have a golf ball
like spherical surface, you’d have zero astigmatism. Consequently,
should your cornea have a surface like an egg (oval), light would be
bent differently depending on where it struck the egg shape surface
resulting in multiple points of focus on your retina.
Practically speaking, a patient will experience blur when looking
at objects when there is significant astigmatism. Life is not simple,
and neither is astigmatism! There are different types of astigmatism
and depending on what type you have, you may be able to correct
this disorder with glasses, contact lenses, cataract surgery and LASIK.
I remain surprised at the persistence of the myth that astigmatism
cannot be treated - that it is indeed a stigma for life. This may stem
from the fact that in days past, severe astigmatism had limited
success rates with contact lenses and laser vision correction, ie
LASIK or PRK.
Modern LASIK and PRK has evolved tremendously over the past
decade and more. Look at the diagram above again. Your eye
surgeon will first isolate the astigmatism as either coming from
the cornea, lens or a combination of both. He will then typify
the astigmatism as being regular or irregular. Maps of your
astigmatism may resemble something like the image below. This
patient has a beautiful example of ‘regular’ astigmatism - not the
vertical bow tie on the top left corner.
This map has a treasure trove of information that in years past was
not available or understood fully. It is with the aid of sophisticated
tools like the Galilei G4 Dual Scheimpflug Camera and Placido Disk
Topography (a mouthful!) that your LASIK surgeon at Milan Eye
Center is able to not only quantify, but qualify you for LASIK or PRK.
It is important to note that not all patients qualify for laser vision
correction.
Astigmatism, therefore, is NOT a barrier to LASIK or PRK. You can
be certain that your eye surgeon will conduct a detailed survey of
your unique eye attributes before informing you whether you are a
candidate or not and, perhaps, even talk about golf balls and eggs
during your visit!
Enjoy the view with
binoculars, not glasses.
Discover LASIK.
SERVICES WE OFFER:
Milan R. Patel, M.D.
Cataract & Refractive
Surgeon
• Bladeless Cataract Surgery • Glaucoma
Evaluation/Management
• Corneal Transplant
• Dry Eye Management
• Pterygium Surgery
• Diabetic Eye Examination • Ocular Emergencies
Niraj Desai, M.D.
Cataract & Refractive
Surgeon
Samir Vira, M.D.
Cataract & Refractive
Surgeon
Cameron Johnson, M.D.
Cataract & Refractive
Surgeon
Johns Creek | Cumming
Canton | Buford
Roswell | Dahlonega
Learn more: www.MilanEyeCenter.com | Call for a consultation: 470-326-0330