Can astigmatism cause blindness?

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asked Sep 15, 2019 in Kids Health by mrkool009 (900 points)
Can astigmatism cause blindness?

2 Answers

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answered Sep 15, 2019 by Judy (56,120 points)
Astigmatism cannot cause blindness although astigmatism makes it harder for people with astigmatism to see properly.

You will not go blind when you have astigmatism so there's no need to worry about that and if you went blind or are going blind when you have astigmatism then the blindness is caused by something else.

Astigmatism is not a health condition or eye disease but instead it's just a problem with how your eye focuses light which is usually caused by a defect in the eyes lens, resulting in distorted images.

Astigmatism cause cause blurred vision, eye strain, and headaches and make it very difficult at times for people to see properly but astigmatism cannot cause or lead to blindness.
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answered Jul 22, 2022 by Capobianco (12,490 points)
Generally, eyes with 1.5 diopters of astigmatism or more require glasses or correction.

For people who have only mild astigmatism and you have at least 20/40 vision you usually do not need or require glasses.

For those with worse levels of astigmatism that more blurs your vision then you would be required to wear glasses or contact lenses when driving.

If it's really hard to see when your astigmatism then your eye doctor would likely prescribe and recommend eye glasses.

You could also opt for Lasik Eye surgery which can correct the astigmatism and then you would not be required to wear glasses or contact lenses.

Yes astigmatism can sometimes cause floaters in peoples eyes.

It's normal to get eye floaters if you do have astigmatism but if your vision really worsens more than just eye floaters then something could be going wrong and you should see an eye doctor.

The condition astigmatism usually gets worse gradually and takes at least a few years or so to see any worse results of the astigmatism.

However in rare cases the astigmatism could get worse suddenly and if that does happen you should see an eye doctor.

The good news though is that astigmatism is not an eye disease and won't cause any harm to your eyes health.

For some people with astigmatism the astigmatism can go away and come back later.

A kid I went to school with years ago had astigmatism and it went away for about 3 months and then after those 3 months the astigmatism came back.

So yes astigmatism in some people can go away and come back.

Although for the majority of people who have astigmatism the astigmatism stays with them and sometimes even gets worse overtime.

Eventually the person with astigmatism may need to wear glasses or contact lenses to see or may need eye surgery to correct their vision.

Some peoples astigmatism may actually get better overtime but it's rare that it happens that way.

The condition astigmatism tends to worsen as the person ages and there's not much known cause.

But it's likely that as you age and leave astigmatism untreated that the cornea shape changes more and more until the astigmatism worsens.

Astigmatism is caused by an irregularly-shaped cornea which some people are born with so you could have astigmatism since birth.

But even then later on in life you could develop astigmatism if your cornea shape changes.

Having eye surgery such as Lasik Eye Surgery can help cure astigmatism but not everyone is eligible for the laser eye surgery.

But most people are and if you can afford the laser eye surgery it can be worth it.

Eye exercises can also help with astigmatism in some cases but not always and wearing glasses or contact lenses prescribed by your eye doctor can help.

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