How the Eye Sees
and sometimes doesn’t see
The Normal Eye
When the surface of a normal eye’s cornea has a spherical curve, like the shape of a basketball, light rays passing through it bend toward its center and focus on one spot.
Astigmatism
Sometimes, the surface of the cornea is curved more like a football, with both flatter and steeper curves. When the surface of the cornea has an uneven curvature, vision becomes distorted. This common irregularity, called a “Corneal Astigmatism,” causes blurred or distorted vision because light rays are not focused at one spot to provide clear vision.
A person who has both Cataract and Corneal Astigmatism will not regain high-quality distance vision after surgery to remove the Cataract unless the Astigmatism is also corrected.
What are your options for correcting Astigmatism?
f you depend on eyeglasses, you may have experienced the inconvenience of not being able to find your glasses when you really need them. Eyeglasses are easily lost or damaged, expensive to replace, and inconvenient to clean and maintain. The more active you are, the more eyeglasses interfere with your lifestyle by complicating your participation in daily and recreational activities.
Many people do not like the “look” of glasses and prefer another type of vision correction, such as contact lenses. “Toric” contact lenses designed to correct Astigmatism are an option; however, some users find them uncomfortable and experience difficulty in adjusting to wearing them.
There are several surgical options your surgeon may choose to treat Astigmatism, such as LASIK laser vision correction, Astigmatic Keratotomy (AK), or Limbal Relaxing Incisions (LRI). However, if you are planning to have surgery to remove a Cataract, you now have an additional option… an implantable lens that makes it possible to treat the Cataract and correct Corneal Astigmatism at the same time. Your eye doctor will recommend the option that is best for you.
Toric lens:
A better option for quality distance vision
Surgery to treat Cataracts is an outpatient procedure where an eye surgeon removes the clouded natural lens and replaces it with an artificial lens. Traditionally, the surgeon implants a Monofocal Artificial Lens, commonly called an “Intraocular Lens” (IOL). If you have Astigmatism, however, you may still experience blurred and distorted vision because a standard IOL cannot correct Corneal Astigmatism. To achieve quality distance vision with a standard IOL, you may still require eyeglasses, contact lenses, or further surgery.
If freedom from eyeglasses for distance vision is important to you, you now have a better option. The unique design of the Toric lens provides significantly improved distance vision and may reduce the need for corrective lenses.