How to Know If You Have Astigmatism
A question that many people have asked me is how to know whether or not they have astigmatism.
Without even looking at the person asking the question, I can already tell them they do.
Is it because I have the magical power of being able to blindly, and confidently, make a significant diagnosis? That would be pretty nice for me if that were the case.
Alas, it is not.
Astigmatisms are actually very common.
So common, in fact, that every single person in the world has astigmatism in one form or another.
Astigmatism is classified as an unnatural curvature of your eye's cornea.
This typically can cause minor refractive errors in your vision, and get more severe the more irregularly shaped the astigmatism is.
There are two basic approaches towards finding out your degree of astigmatism.
1) You can get a pretty good idea of the extent of your condition on your own.
Although you won't get the exact reading that a doctor would be equipped to give you, you can do a number of things to guesstimate how severe, or how ordinary your cornea's curvature really is.
For instance, try testing your vision by looking at an object close to you, as in within two feet.
Is your vision noticeably blurry? Next, move away from that object until it is about 10 feet away from you.
Is the object still blurry, or is it clearer? Depending on your results from this exercise, you have already taken a big step towards finding out what degree of significance your astigmatism is classified as.
If your results were blurry in both instances, your astigmatism is probably rather severe.
If only blurry in your short-sighted vision, and not in far-sighted (or vise-versa), then your case may be a little more on the average side.
2) Go to the doctor for an eye exam.
This is the more exact and, not surprisingly, more practiced way of diagnosing your condition.
Although, many people didn't know that visiting the eye doctor for a typical eye exam also involves a routine check on the significance your astigmatism.
The doctor will have more refined ways of testing your condition than simply looking at an object that is close to you, and then looking at it while it is further away.
And, he or she will be able to give you an exact measurement on the curvature, typically in decimal form.
Without even looking at the person asking the question, I can already tell them they do.
Is it because I have the magical power of being able to blindly, and confidently, make a significant diagnosis? That would be pretty nice for me if that were the case.
Alas, it is not.
Astigmatisms are actually very common.
So common, in fact, that every single person in the world has astigmatism in one form or another.
Astigmatism is classified as an unnatural curvature of your eye's cornea.
This typically can cause minor refractive errors in your vision, and get more severe the more irregularly shaped the astigmatism is.
There are two basic approaches towards finding out your degree of astigmatism.
1) You can get a pretty good idea of the extent of your condition on your own.
Although you won't get the exact reading that a doctor would be equipped to give you, you can do a number of things to guesstimate how severe, or how ordinary your cornea's curvature really is.
For instance, try testing your vision by looking at an object close to you, as in within two feet.
Is your vision noticeably blurry? Next, move away from that object until it is about 10 feet away from you.
Is the object still blurry, or is it clearer? Depending on your results from this exercise, you have already taken a big step towards finding out what degree of significance your astigmatism is classified as.
If your results were blurry in both instances, your astigmatism is probably rather severe.
If only blurry in your short-sighted vision, and not in far-sighted (or vise-versa), then your case may be a little more on the average side.
2) Go to the doctor for an eye exam.
This is the more exact and, not surprisingly, more practiced way of diagnosing your condition.
Although, many people didn't know that visiting the eye doctor for a typical eye exam also involves a routine check on the significance your astigmatism.
The doctor will have more refined ways of testing your condition than simply looking at an object that is close to you, and then looking at it while it is further away.
And, he or she will be able to give you an exact measurement on the curvature, typically in decimal form.
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