Can astigmatism cause difficulty writing straight on a page? By Dr. Pichit Naripthaphan TRSC International LASIK Center
There are several vision-related skills that are critical to good handwriting. Having difficulty writing straight on a paper is not solely caused by astigmatism. It could be from an individual character or personal behavior.
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>> What is astigmatism?
Astigmatism is a condition in which your eye, especially your cornea is not completely round. Ideally, an eyeball is shaped like a perfectly round ball. Light comes into it and bends evenly, which gives you a clear view. But if your cornea is shaped more like a rugby ball, light gets bent more in one direction than another.
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>> How do you know if you have astigmatism?
Astigmatism can cause blurred and double vision, and you can see images with shadows. This makes it quite difficult to distinguish numbers that look similar, such as numbers 3 6 8 9.
>> Who can get astigmatism?
Anyone can develop astigmatism like myopia or nearsightedness. Astigmatism may be present from birth.
>> Can astigmatism be increased?
There is a chance of increased astigmatism until it is stable at the age of 18-20 years old, depending on the individuals.
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>> The different types of astigmatism?
Simple Myopic Astigmatism: This is a combination of astigmatism and myopia, or nearsightedness, where one of the principal meridians is focused in front of the retina and the other meridian is focused on the retina.
Compound Myopic Astigmatism: This is a combination of astigmatism and myopia, or nearsightedness, where both of the principal meridians are focused in front of the retina.
Simple Hyperopic Astigmatism: This is a combination of astigmatism and hyperopia, or farsightedness, where one of the principal meridians is focused in behind the retina and the other meridian is focused on the retina.
Compound Hyperopic astigmatism: This is a combination of astigmatism and hyperopia, or farsightedness, where both of the principal meridians are focused behind the retina.
Mixed astigmatism: This is when one of the principal meridians is focused in front of the retina and the other meridian is focused behind the retina.
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>> How is astigmatism treated?
Most astigmatism is Compound Myopic Astigmatism in which the treatment is similar to that of myopia or nearsightedness. There are many options for treating astigmatism, the most common being eye glasses and contact lenses. People with high astigmatism do better with contact lenses, because if you put a strong astigmatism-correcting lens in front of an eye, it can tend to stretch things out and cause distortion. A more permanent solution to astigmatism can be provided by refractive surgery. Depending on your prescription, eye measurements and visual needs, a variety of procedures are available, including LASIK, ReLEx and ICL surgery.