Can LASIK Eye Surgery Cure Astigmatism?

What does it mean to have “normal” eyes? Typically, having normally shaped eyes mean that the cornea, which is the clear, outer window of your eye, curves equally in vertical and horizontal directions. These directions resemble the patterns of the stitches on a baseball. However, if you have astigmatism, your eyes won’t have that shape. How would LASIK affect astigmatism?

When any light ray enters your eye and hits your cornea, the eye focuses on a single point. If you suffer from astigmatism, the irregular shape of the cornea will cause blurriness. This irregular shape is actually more similar to a football than a baseball. With the misshapen cornea, the light rays will not enter at one point, but at multiple points, distorting vision. If you suffer from hyperopia or myopia, you likely have some degree of astigmatism as well.

In most cases, people looking to cure astigmatism turn to laser eye surgery. Laser technology fixes the cornea to curve properly, correcting the blurriness that results from astigmatism. However, there are many more natural alternatives that you can turn to instead of an invasive surgical procedure. For example, eye vitamins and the Ocu-Plus Formula offer an excellent way to improve your vision naturally. You can avoid surgery and even rid your dependency on glasses. Plus, you’ll avoid that expensive medical bill!

Treating Astigmatism: Is LASIK the Answer?

You’ve probably been hearing about LASIK surgery for years. With so many people getting this procedure, it’s natural to assume that it’s the safest, best option. It’s also totally normal to be a little skeptical when it comes to treating a condition like astigmatism naturally. The medical field and history tell us that it takes medication or eye surgery like LASIK to treat or restore vision loss. However, twenty-first-century research tells us that’s not true.

Over the years, many people have turned to eye vitamins as a natural and safe way to improve their vision. At Rebuild Your Vision, we are here to help you find the perfect vitamins to improve your vision. In fact, we make them in-house! Changing your diet to include eye-healthy vitamins can improve vision whether you suffer from astigmatism, nearsightedness, or even farsightedness.

How Laser Surgery Corrects Astigmatism

When you undergo LASIK eye surgery as a means to cure astigmatism, your eyes are exposed to lasers, or narrow beams of light, that reshape the tissue of your cornea in order to change the way it curves.

With LASIK, there is a machine that creates a flap in the tissue. This is done mechanically with a tool known as a microkeratome, or a specialized type of laser known as a femtosecond laser. The doctor then lifts the flap in order to expose the corneal tissue underneath it, where the reshaping happens. After the procedure is complete, the doctor repositions the flap onto the eye.

Usually, laser surgery is performed on an outpatient basis, which means that you do not have to stay overnight in the hospital. The procedure can even be done in a specialist eye clinic and only takes 20 to 30 minutes. This is partially what makes it such an attractive option for many patients.

Sounds simple enough, right? In and out in less than an hour and perfect vision for the rest of your life. What’s not to like about that?

Well, it’s not that easy. While LASIK is usually the preferred treatment as it causes little pain and your vision will begin to recover in as little as a few hours, there are some serious downfalls.

Risks of LASIK Eye Surgery

As with any type of surgery, there are risks involved with LASIK, including mishaps that may ultimately lead to complete loss of vision. The most common risks involved with LASIK include the following:

• Dry eyes
• Fluctuating levels of visual clearness
• Over and under correction
• Double vision
• Sensitivity to light
• Flap wrinkles

With all of these risks, it’s important to really do your research before you turn to this invasive surgery. Instead of taking the risk with LASIK procedures, there are many natural methods to improve astigmatism.

There are also some limitations to LASIK surgery; for example, if the cornea isn’t thick enough, the surgery can’t happen. If the cornea is too thin, the side effects, complications, and risks can be too high to perform the surgery.

When Can You Use Laser Surgery to Treat or Cure Astigmatism?

While LASIK surgery may seem like the cure-all for anyone experiencing vision issues, in reality, that’s not the case. In fact, there are large segments of the population who absolutely should not get LASIK surgery, even if they’ve experienced poor vision throughout their life.

Anyone under the age of 21 shouldn’t undergo corrective laser surgery. Their vision may still be changing and the treatment may actually cause more vision problems.

Really though, even individuals who are over the age of 21 may have changing vision. This means that you should ensure that it is safe for you to get laser eye surgery beforehand. LASIK surgery may also not be suitable in cases of the following:

• People with diabetes
• If you are pregnant or breastfeeding
• Any eye conditions that affect the body’s immune system
• If there are problems with your eyes including cataracts or glaucoma

Undergoing LASIK surgery to correct astigmatism also comes with other risks you should be aware of, including:

• An infection of the cornea
• Worsening of vision if too much tissue is removed from the cornea
• The surface of the cornea may begin to actually grow into the outside layers of the cornea

The fact is LASIK surgery does help treat and cure astigmatism. But there are certain limitations that may prevent you from getting the treatment. And there are always risks. As we said, there are other options for those who suffer from astigmatism.

So, if you have astigmatism, do a bit of research and discuss your treatment options with your optometrist before jumping on the laser surgery bandwagon. Make sure you are getting the proper nutrients to strengthen your vision naturally, and you may be able to avoid the LASIK eye surgery discussion altogether.