Treatment
Astigmatism may be corrected with eyeglasses, contact lenses, or refractive surgery. The planning and analysis of astigmatism treatment in corneal, cataract, and refractive surgery has been outlined by the American National Standards Institute, and was originally described by Australian ophthalmologist Noel A. Alpins in his Alpins method of astigmatism analysis. Various considerations involving ocular health, refractive status, and lifestyle, frequently determine whether one option may be better than another. In those with keratoconus, toric contact lenses often enable patients to achieve better visual acuities than eyeglasses. Once only available in a rigid, gas-permeable form, toric lenses are now available also as soft lenses. If the astigmatism is caused by a problem such as deformation of the eyeball due to a chalazion, treating the underlying cause will resolve the astigmatism. The first eyeglasses to correct astigmatism were made by Benjamin Franklin in 1784.
A further option is the Mini Asymmetric Radial Keratotomy (M.A.R.K.), a surgical technique developed by Italian ophthalmologist Marco Abbondanza in 1994 and improved in 2005. It consists of a series of microincisions, which are made with a diamond knife, designed to cause a controlled scarring of the cornea, which changes its thickness and shape. This procedure, if done properly, is able to cure the astigmatism and the first and second stages of the keratoconus, avoiding the need for a cornea transplant.
Read more about this topic: Astigmatism (eye)
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