Astigmatism is an eye condition that leads to blurry vision at all distances. This occurs because the shape of the cornea is more like half of a football rather than half of a basketball. Because of this irregular shape, the light rays from images are not able to focus on the correct point of your retina, leading to blurry vision. In the past, the only treatment of astigmatism involved reshaping or relaxing irregular areas of the cornea to allow light to be refracted to the central retina, known as the macula. Due to advances in technology, your eye surgeon has the ability to correct astigmatism during cataract surgery by implanting a Toric IOL.
There are two methods to correct astigmatism during your cataract surgery:
Astigmatism Relaxing Incisions:
In this procedure, Dr. Yomtoob makes an incision on your cornea to relax the irregular shape, and allow light to focus better on the back of the eye. This procedure usually works best for patients with lower amounts of astigmatism, and special corneal topographical map testing is conducted to determine where the incision should be made. It is now possible to make these incisions using a refractive laser as well. Dr. Yomtoob was one of the first surgeons in the area to use this technology.
Toric IOLs:
These IOLs allow your ophthalmologist/eye surgeon to correct both cataracts and higher amounts of astigmatism at once during cataract surgery. In this procedure, your eye surgeon replaces the cataract-affected lens in your eye with a new lens, known as an intraocular
lens (IOL). You can choose an IOL that can correct astigmatism as well as cataracts, allowing you to enjoy more activities with reduced dependency on glasses. Toric IOLs are not multifocal or accommodating lenses, therefore, they do not treat presbyopia.