Astigmatism is a defect of vision caused by the optics of the eyes to form an image on the retina in spite being focused on it. In other words, people with astigmatism are able to see only blurred images of the objects and not see things clearly. This defect is not a disease, but only a refractive error of the eye. The problem is seen in early childhood and hence it should be of utmost importance to get your child taken to an ophthalmologist for immediate rectification. In case the problem is allowed to prolong then it may affect the school studies of your child. This also means that the problem has nothing to do with the general health of the eye. There is however different kinds of astigmatic vision problems and your ophthalmologist would suggest treatment of the same according to its severity.
Astigmatic Vision and Causes
Your child will experience astigmatic vision problem as a child and you may spot the difference when the child tries to focus at near objects. However, you may be able to tell the difference only when the child finds it difficult to identify near and far objects especially when it starts to read the alphabets. In fact, the distortion is apparent both for near and far objects.
The actual cause of astigmatic vision is because of the irregular shape of the child’s cornea. The real shape of the cornea is round shape yet when you have the above problem, then it is seen that one meridian is perceptibly more curved than that meridian perpendicular to it.
The presence of astigmatic vision can be confirmed only through a proper astigmatism test and your doctor would then be able to confirm the level of acuity of the vision in your child’s eyes. In other words, your doctor would at once know whether the blurred vision belongs to one of the three categories.
These three categories are myopic astigmatism, hyperopic astigmatism and mixed astigmatism. Again, the above blurred vision problem may also be classified as regular or singular astigmatism.
Cure for Astigmatic Vision Problem
Astigmatic vision problem can be corrected with the help of glasses after a test by your ophthalmologist. The instrument used is the same as those used during tests for near sightedness and far sightedness. The astigmatic vision problem can be corrected with the help of glasses, contact lenses or refractive surgery.
Even though it may take a bit longer, astigmatic vision acuity can be cured naturally, and this way might just be the best way to cure any vision problems. There are several sites online that sells books, CDs and information about ways to cure astigmatism naturally through a series of eye exercises. For example, there is the program How to Improve Eyesight.
The best part of the natural cure is that you may have your vision restored permanently and that too without any apprehension whatsoever about surgical errors, wearing of glasses or contact lenses throughout life. The exercises are quite simple yet very effective as they make the six eye muscles more robust and full of strength.