Laser eye surgery fixes astigmatism. If you have significant astigmatism, both
Does Laser Eye Surgery Correct Astigmatism?
LASIK and PRK do a great job of correcting your astigmatism.
What is Astigmatism?
Astigmatism means your eye is shaped more like an egg than a perfectly round sphere. This irregularity makes your vision blurry or double.
Glasses can carry astigmatism correction, which can restore focus. Because the correction sits out away from your eye, the astigmatism correction glasses are thick.
A contact lens sits right on the surface of your eye so a very thin contact lens can carry the same astigmatism correction.
How does Astigmatism LASIK Work?
Astigmatism LASIK uses a laser to gently reshape the surface of your eye to return it to a more ideal round shape. For most patients, this restores balance so that your vision can focus for distance vision without glasses or contact lenses. This is a better and more natural correction for the problems from caused by your astigmatism.
How does an Eye Surgeon Measure LASIK Astigmatism?
We measure your astigmatism a number of ways before surgery.
We measure how much astigmatism you have in your old prescription glasses. We then use a corneal topographer to image your cornea. This machine displays a topographic map of your cornea. It compares the shape of your cornea to a perfectly round sphere, indicating the amount of work the laser will need to do to return your eye to a more natural shape.
We also use an auto-refractor to check your astigmatism amount and then do actual glasses measurements (you know, better one or two) before and after having your eyes dilated to compare the astigmatism correction required for your clearest vision.
Finally, we use a wavefront imaging system that projects a column of light into your eye and then measures how your astigmatism has changed the light as it is reflected back out.
All of these instruments independently give us measurements of the amount of astigmatism you have. I insist on checking, and re-checking, before I do your LASIK for astigmatism.
Laser Eye Surgery For Astigmatism
Just before surgery, your amount of astigmatism, along with your age and visual goals, are entered into a sophisticated computer program that outlines the exact settings needed for the laser according to your individual amount of astigmatism. This program makes these recommendations based on the laser outcomes of all those that previously had their astigmatism corrected.
The laser then tracks the location of your eye and gently reshapes your cornea according to your custom settings. This return to a normal shape corrects your astigmatism.
Best Laser Eye Surgery
We strive to be the best laser center in America.
This requires constant focus on quality assurance and improvement. Several months after your surgery we check your eyes to make sure we have done a great job for you and your vision. We enter your exact outcomes back into the sophisticated computer program.
Your outcomes confirm and adjust the exact amounts needed for your friends that you refer in for their astigmatism treatments. I guess you could call this the circle of light!
Laser eye surgery, like all surgery, carries some risk. If you have any further questions about your astigmatism, please schedule a time to visit with me at the office or send me a note.
Gary J.L. Foster, M.D.
Cataract and Laser Eye Surgeon
Board Certified Ophthalmologist
Fort Collins, Colorado 80525<!–
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