Astigmatism Many patients with myopia (nearsightedness) or hyperopia (farsightedness) have some degree of astigmatism, or ovalness to their cornea. Astigmatism occurs when the cornea is more oblong than spherical. As a result, patients with astigmatism experience distortion or tilting of images because of unequal bending of light rays entering the eye.

Astigmatism is the most common refractive condition, and occurs to some extent in most eyes. Patients with high degrees of astigmatism have blurred vision for both near and distant objects.

Like myopia and hyperopia, astigmatism is also measured in diopters. Of all myopic people, 50% or more have astigmatism as well. Most of these people have corrections of less than 1 diopter. The table below shows the categories of severity for astigmatism:

Mild Astigmatism < 1.00 diopters
Moderate Astigmatism 1.00 to 2.00 diopters
Severe Astigmatism 2.00 to 3.00 diopters
Extreme Astigmatism > 3.00 diopters

Every patient and prescription is looked at individually to decide what is best for them. Our doctors are very prudent and thorough in deciding whether you are a good candidate for laser vision correction and will be happy to discuss the potential outcome and risks involved for a patient with your particular prescription.

 

Zion Eye Institute is dedicated to providing the highest quality eye care to patients in Southern Utah, Nevada and Northern Arizona.

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