How is astigmatism corrected?
Astigmatism can be optically corrected, and vision sharpened, by prescription eyeglasses. (A small amount may require no correction if it does not affect your vision or cause eyestrain or headaches.) Glasses can also reduce the ocular pulling, dizziness, or difficulty with sustained reading. At first, the glasses can make objects look a bit tilted or distorted, but this should disappear after you get used to them. Rigid, gas permeable contact lenses can also be used to correct astigmatism. Soft lenses cannot be used, unless they are special “toric” lenses that are made to compensate for the astigmatic shape of the corneas. The amount of time you wear your correction will not have any effect on the basic astigmatism or its development– that is, wearing glasses or contacts will neither make the astigmatism better or worse.
