Astigmatism is otherwise called as "distortion of image". If you are a person having an astigmatic eye, you will see the images distorted because of the shape of your cornea and / or the lens. This distortion is not necessarily uniform, but some portion of the image may be more distorted than the other portion. It varies from person to person and even from an eye to eye.

Astigmatism can also occur if you are diabetic because high blood sugar levels can cause changes in the shape of the lens. Normally the shape of the cornea is spherical, but in an astigmatic eye, the shape of the cornea may be oval that causes the light passing through the cornea to get focused on more than one spot on the retina.

There are two types of Astigmatism, namely:

• Corneal Astigmatism caused by the irregular shape of the cornea.

• Lenticular Astigmatism caused by the irregular shape of the lens.

If you are young and at the age of puberty, especially a girl, then you might develop a progressive condition called Keratoconus, where your cornea becomes thin and cone shaped. It may be hereditary or a result of chronic eye rubbing or because of wearing hard contact lenses for many years.

You should be aware that the Astigmatism could occur in combination with Myopia or Hyperopia. You must consult the surgeon to get your eyes tested if your vision is blurred, distorted and/or having headaches.

In recent years, refractive procedures like LASIK have become popular and give you an option of not having to depend on glasses, contact lens through out your life. L ASIK could treat Astigmatism up to 4 dioptres. The surgeon will be able to help in deciding on what treatment you could get after your eyes are diagnosed.