When Is Astigmatism Dangerous?

Can it really be that astigmatism can be dangerous to your vision? Astigmatism can certainly blur your vision. But when do you have to be concerned that astigmatism will cause you to go blind?
Fortunately for most people, astigmatism is not dangerous. But if your astigmatism is getting worse or your vision is no longer correcting to 20/20, these may be signs that you have irregular astigmatism from a condition called Keratoconus. Something that if left untreated will cause you to lose vision.
Uncorrected astigmatism in children can also prevent the proper development of vision and lead to a condition known as amblyopia or lazy eye.
Also Check Out:
eyemountain.com/is-astigmatis...
Image Credits:
Quincy Follweiler on Unsplash
Dave Adamson on Unsplash
L8rgator at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Megor1, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Tallfred at English Wikipedia, BSD, via Wikimedia Commons

[@NellBlizzard]

Thank you!! I have astigmatism but none of my eye doctors over the years have ever fully explained what that means and they have never mapped the astigmatism. All of them acted like it was nothing to be concerned about. I've never even seen the machine you show. I am having problems that may or may not be a result of the astigmatism. Thanks to your video, I now know what to ask for when I go for my eye exam. A million thank yous!!!

[@eubanksmd]

Glad you found the video helpful! And while thankfully most astigmatism isn't harmful, it is important to be aware of the "red flag" symptoms.

[@NellBlizzard]

@@eubanksmd I had my eye exam this morning! I voiced my concerns with my doctor and she was very helpful, more careful with my exam, and much more informative. Together, we worked out a way forward with my prescription that makes me very hopeful that my eyes will get the help they need from my new lenses. Thanks again!!!! I’d hug you if I could!!!! 😉

[@JoannaHammond]

Wow, I've had that kind of machine used on me loads of times, every eye checkup over the last 10 years as far as I can remember. In the UK if that helps.

[@huntereubanks1332]

Great job!!

[@jessicanone4202]

Thank you for this! I have always had astigmatism with myopia but it has gotten worse and worse over time. As a child I had lazy eye and they still can see it a little bit. I am now going on 38 and it is so scary seeing a extremely high prescription. I think I will be going to a different eye doctor for a 2nd opinion. It's not that I don't trust him I can see but I just wanna make sure that I seriously won't go blind especially as over the years it keeps getting worse and worse without glasses. I was told originally it would "settle down" in my 20s...and it hasn't

[@yevlesh]

Yep. I had 4 optometrists over 7 visits in 3 years miss my Keratoconus despite changing prescription. Finally was properly diagnosed when i self- referred myself to an opthalmologist in another country. Far, far, far too many optometrists in US just simply do not bother thinking and don't refer to an opthalmologist when they don't know what's going on. Now the only way I can see well is with scleral lenses and already had CXl on the left eye. Right one is next, to save what vision is left there.

[@laurag7295]

Best of luck!!!

[@eubanksmd]

Glad you finally got diagnosed! Hopefully one day early Keratoconus will be commonly recognized

[@christineribone9351]

Thank you. I have: OD spherical -3.0 OD cylinder -2.25 OD axis 035 OS spherical -2.50 OS cylinder -2.00 OS axis 150 So do I have regular or irregular astigmatism? Is it oblique?

[@kellymoran3175]

Excellent video and very nice explanation of anatomy/physiology. I had a Keratoconus in my L eye at age 27 and had 20/600 vision that got to that point progressively over years and had a Corneal Transplant. I'm 50 now and I have a cataract in that L eye and I have and a high degree of Astigmatism that can only be corrected to like 20/40 manually and they are just waiting on the pin hole cataract lens approval and will need a hard lens as well to get me to see well. Just a side note.. R eye had no pathology in it ever and my vision is 20/25 there, no problems, just for your info. Anyway, sorry for the "Novel". PEACE.

[@eubanksmd]

Thanks for sharing your experience with keratoconus. Not uncommon to have that difference between the two eyes.

[@otiebrown9999]

A bad measurement, is always DANGEROUS.

[@otiebrown9999]

Almost all eyes have Astigmatism.

[@otiebrown9999]

100% correct.

[@yuanyi827]

Do an -1.5D astigmatism at 14 degrees need correction?

[@_dyson]

😢 i gone to doctor very late at 16 age now I'm 17 my eye before glasses 6/24 and 6/18 with -3 and -3.25 with corrected vision 6/9 now it's one year now and now I have to go for recheck i checked at home and it's probably 6/18 for both of eyes with glasses 😢 so it's going to increase power is it irregular astigmatism and I'm really studying very hard like 12-15 hours due to my board exams and competitive exams from last 6 months and i want is it irregular astigmatism

[@eubanksmd]

The prescription of our eye continues to change through our late teens. It can also sometimes change in our early 20s, especially if one does a lot of up close book work. When the prescription of the eye is changing, it is important to follow follow regularly with an eye doctor to assess the change and make sure irregular astigmatism and keratoconus isn't developing. You may also find this article helpful: eyemountain.com/eyesight-getting-worse-in-20s/

[@JoannaHammond]

Amblyopia is not fun. Even when vision in my left eye is corrected to 20/20 it is still basically useless, Its hard to describe its effect to be honest. I can see things are in focus in my left eye when I close my right eye. But, the image makes little sense, its as though I can see but not understand what I see, I can see words on the screen but it is not possible to read the words. I had to have corrective surgery on that eye when I was eight (repositioning of one of the muscles to correct a rather bad squint that nobody noticed) which led to me being basically totaly right eye dominant due to the delay in repairing that eye.

[@eubanksmd]

Thanks for sharing your experience Joanna! That's a good description of what it's like to have an eye with amblyopia. Yeah, amblyopia has strange effects on vision that go beyond just reading the numbers on the eye chart. Preventing it from occurring is optimal.

[@JoannaHammond]

@@eubanksmd Yep, I think one of the best descriptions I gave that was if I lost my right eye even though I can see with my left eye I would basicaly be blind.

[@laurag7295]

I can see only the fringes of what is there, out of focus, colours not quite right, and any light going in that eye seems too bright, I have always been told to take care of my right eye (the good one) and have always been told I will be legally blind if I ever lose the sight in my right eye (I am now knocking on wood)!

[@laurag7295]

@@JoannaHammond me too!

[@josephfrechette9916]

I've experienced that. Thankfully it only happy occasionally. And most people get weirded out when I tell them I can see information but I need them to read it to me because it's not processing.

[@Nephew075]

Wait so Keratcounous is a second name for irregular astigmatism or you have to have Keratcounous in order to develop irregular astigmatism?

[@obamtl]

No, but Keratoconus leads to irregular astigmatism. Keratoconus basically means 'cone-shaped' cornea, caused by the thinning of the cornea, leading to it becoming more cone-shaped. When this happens, the cornea can then deform in an irregular shape (one side being steeper than the other side in a way that isn't symmetrical. This leads to irregular astigmatism, which becomes noticeable by glasses not being able to remove the ghosting in the vision.

[@Nephew075]

@@obamtl Thank you!

[@eubanksmd]

Great explanation! Thanks for contributing

[@networkedperson]

background music isn't loud and annoying enough

[@eubanksmd]

thanks for the feedback!

[@simcore999bernard6]

👍

[@laurag7295]

I was always told that my amblyopia had to be corrected by the time I was 2, then 8, now you are saying 12? Too late for me, but ...

[@eubanksmd]

The earlier you catch and treat amblyopia, the better the outcome. While vision does continue to develop until the age of 12, the majority of it happens at younger ages.

[@laurag7295]

@Barrett Eubanks MD the doctor who was going to treat me at 2, died in a car crash. The next said, wait until she's 8. Then the next one said, when I was 14, that the immature eye probably had scarring on the retina. At 62 they said there is no scarring on your retina. Frankly, can't keep up! I just wear glasses, prescription sunglasses, and try not to squint while typing this inside, with sunlight glinting off the snow, without either pair of glasses! They were all ophthalmologists

[@paulgamingytchannel7195]

But I can control my astigmatism I can blure and I can not do blure

[@eubanksmd]

Hi, it is possible to change your astigmatism if you push in on the eye. But this isn't recommended since that can weaken the cornea

[@KarenAbella-do9pe]

Did you just say contact lenses hon.. huh

[@eubanksmd]

For normal astigmatism, toric contact lenses can be used to correct astigmatism. Check out this article if you are curious how they work: eyemountain.com/are-astigmatism-contacts-weighted/. For irregular astigmatism, special rigid contact lenses can be used to correct vision