Astigmatism: what is it? How to treat astigmatism at home?

Healthy eyes and excellent eyesight are every person's dream. But not everyone can boast of this. Almost every person has a particular eye disease. And in this article we will consider a disease such as astigmatism: what it is, how to treat it and how to avoid it.

What is astigmatism?

Astigmatism is one of the main causes of visual impairment. It can occur in combination with farsightedness and myopia.

From Latin, astigmatism can be translated as "the absence of a focal point."

In a healthy eye, the lens and cornea have a flat sphere surface. When astigmatism occurs, their sphericity is impaired. Curvature is formed in different directions.

The refractive power in the cornea is different in different places, therefore, when light rays pass through such a cornea, a distorted image is obtained. Part of the image can focus on the retina, part - in front of or behind it. The final image that a person sees becomes blurred, distorted.

To make it easier to imagine what the image looks like with astigmatism, you can look at your reflection in an oval spoon. In approximately this way, distortion occurs. And how to treat astigmatism, we will consider later.

Causes of the disease

To learn how to treat eye astigmatism, you first need to know the causes of this disease.

So, the main cause of astigmatism is the deformation of the lens or cornea. In this case, the cornea does not have the shape of a sphere, but looks like a melon, that is, it is slightly convex on one side. Light rays passing through such a curved cornea are focused on the retina at several points (and should be at one). Therefore, the image becomes blurry.

In addition, astigmatism can occur against the background of myopia or hyperopia.

Signs of Astigmatism

Before you learn how to treat astigmatism in adults, it is important to know the signs of the disease so as not to make a mistake in choosing a treatment.

Most often, astigmatism is inherited. Therefore, its signs can be detected even in childhood. Children can complain of eye fatigue, they can squint constantly, which indicates a decrease in vision, with a load the eyes turn red. If parents noticed these signs in their child, then it is urgent to show it to the doctor in order to learn how to treat astigmatism in children.

In addition, children must be checked by a doctor if at least one of the parents has such a disease. If children's astigmatism is left without treatment, there is a risk of decreased vision, which can not be corrected, that is, the development of amblyopia. Therefore, it is extremely important to check the child’s eyesight with a doctor in a timely manner, who, if a disease is detected, will give clear recommendations on how to treat eye astigmatism in children.

Among other signs of the disease, the following can be distinguished:

1. The outlines of things are distorted.
2. In the eyes, doubles even with small physical exertion.
3. Things have fuzzy borders.
4. Frequent headaches.
5. Eye fatigue increases even with minor exertion.

There are three periods of astigmatism - weak, medium, high. With a weak period, eye damage occurs on no more than one diopter. In this case, vision practically does not deteriorate and treatment is not required. With an average and high period, the intervention of doctors is already necessary.

Myopia and farsightedness are faithful companions of astigmatism. As a rule, along with astigmatism, one thing is found, but sometimes signs of both diseases are manifested.

Types of Astigmatism

Many people wonder, "How to treat astigmatism?" But treatment is selected by a professional ophthalmologist individually for each patient, based on the type of disease. The disease is divided into types, based on the presence of myopia or hyperopia in one or two main meridians of the eye.

So, astigmatism is of the following types:

1. Hypermetropic simple. In this form, one main meridian is affected by farsightedness, and the second in a normal state (emmetropia).
2. Hypermetropic complex. In this case, farsightedness in both meridians of the eye.
3. Myopic simple. In this form, one main meridian is affected by myopia, and the second in a normal state (emmetropia).
4. Myopic complex. In this case, in both meridians - myopia.
5. Mixed. With this type of astigmatism in the main meridians, both myopia and farsightedness are observed.

Types of Astigmatism

In order to know how to treat astigmatism, in addition to its type, you need to determine the degree. For this, in the ophthalmology the Tabo scale is used (from 0 to 180 degrees), with the help of which the main axes of the disease are determined.

So, astigmatism is of three types:

1. Direct - the vertical meridian has the greatest refractive power. A patient with this type of disease perceives more precisely vertical lines. This type is most often diagnosed.
2. The reverse is the greatest refractive power in the horizontal meridian. In this case, the person sees precisely the horizontal lines more clearly. This type of astigmatism is extremely rarely diagnosed, but vision in this case decreases more and more quickly. This is due to the fact that a person lives in a vertically oriented world.
3. Astigmatism with oblique axes. The patient does not see well both horizontal and vertical lines.

Degrees of astigmatism

And finally, another important criterion that must be considered before deciding how to treat astigmatism is the degree of the disease.

So, ophthalmologists distinguish three main degrees of astigmatism:

1. Weak degree (up to 3 diopters). This degree of the disease occurs most often, it can be treated using all known methods (glasses, contact lenses, laser correction).
2. Medium (3 to 6 diopters). This degree is less common. You cannot use glasses to correct it. In this case, you can use contact lenses, laser vision correction or surgery.
3. High degree (more than 6 diopters). The cause of such a high degree of astigmatism can be gross changes in the cornea. Hard contact lenses are used for treatment, and laser and surgical vision correction are combined.

It becomes clear that the higher the degree of the disease, the more vision deteriorates, and the more difficult it is to fix it. Many people want to learn how to treat astigmatism at home. Consider these and other treatments just below.

What is astigmatism dangerous?

Many people who notice the first signs of astigmatism are not in a hurry to see a doctor. And very in vain. Lack of treatment can lead to frequent headaches and pain in the eyes. Children's astigmatism is especially dangerous. Without high-quality treatment, a child may develop strabismus and vision drop sharply. Many parents try to learn how to treat astigmatism in children at home. There are some tips for treating this disease at home. But they will benefit only if they are carried out in conjunction with high-quality medical treatment.

Disease prevention

Of course, it is easier to prevent a disease than to cure it. But people forget or simply neglect all methods of disease prevention until it touches them personally.

Prevention of astigmatism is very simple, it will not take much time and effort, but it will maintain health for many years.

So, in order to avoid a disease such as astigmatism, it is enough to simply alternate work with a lot of eye strain and rest.

You should carefully select the lighting of the workplace. The lamp is best placed in front or to the left of the person. Lighting in the room should be one hundred percent, because when you look from the lighter part of the room to the darker, your eyes get tired faster.

These simple tips will help you maintain your eyesight for years to come.

Astigmatism correction with glasses

For spectacle correction of astigmatism, ophthalmologists prescribe special "complex" glasses. Cylindrical lenses are inserted into them. If the patient has a high degree of illness, then wearing such glasses can cause him discomfort (dizziness, pain in the eyes). To avoid this, it is important to conduct a thorough diagnosis in order to correctly select the necessary glasses. Unfortunately, it often happens that patients have to change glasses several times to get rid of discomfort.

Correction of astigmatism with contact lenses

For a long time it was believed that astigmatism can be treated only with the use of hard contact lenses. But they were very uncomfortable in the process of wearing and had a very bad effect on the cornea. However, medicine and science do not stand still, and today more convenient and safer toric lenses are used to correct astigmatism.

Treatment of the disease at home

So, how to treat astigmatism in adults at home? There are some simple recipes.

1. Tincture of blueberry leaves. For cooking, you need three teaspoons of blueberry leaves, pour a liter of boiling water, insist for an hour and strain. During the day, tincture should be drunk, divided into equal doses. Take before meals. In addition, fresh blueberries and jam from it are very beneficial for vision.
2. Splashing water. A very simple way that will improve blood circulation in the eyes. It is necessary to splash ice-cold water over your eyes several times in a row.
3. Sweet cherry. It is very useful for astigmatism to eat cherries, the main thing is not to overdo it. In addition, you can make small compresses of cherry berries on your eyes.
4. Vegetable treatment. For the treatment of astigmatism, it is useful to eat fresh green vegetables (cucumbers, spinach, dill, celery, parsley). In addition, carrots, garlic and beets are very useful for vision. With astigmatism, fresh juice from vegetables will perfectly help. But it is important to remember that children need 500 ml of juice per day for treatment. Otherwise, allergies may occur.

Astigmatism Exercises

There are a few simple exercises that can help cure astigmatism on your own at home.

1. You need to sit straight, keep your head straight. With eyes first look right and down. Sit like that for a while. Then you need to look to the left and down. Repeat 5-6 times.
2. In the same position, you need to look at the tip of the nose until your eyes get a little tired. Then you need to make several rotational movements to the right and left. Repeat 5-6 times.
3. A daily fingertip massage is very beneficial for the eyes.

Conclusion

In the article, we examined astigmatism in detail: what it is, how to treat it and how to avoid this disease. Follow simple tips, and your eyesight will always be absolute!