Astigmatism in Laymans Terms

As an optician for 30 or so years I have heard many people comment on how concerned they are about having "a stigmatism". The proper word is astigmatism. There are several "refractive errors" in diagnosing your eye condition. The terms used may be myopia, hyperopia, presbyopia, astigmatism, near sightedness, farsightedness, etc. In this Knol I am going to be discussing astigmatism because it seems to be so misunderstood.


Astigmatism is one word. In the general public it is often referred to as " a stigmatism", I often hear a patient saying that the doctor told them they have "a stigmatism" and they think it is something awful and want to know what it really is. There is no such term as "stigmatism", the correct word is astigmatism.

A definition for astigmatism can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astigmatism_(eye) .

This definition can be very confusing to anyone who does not have optical training and knowledge. In laymans terms I would explain it like this:

Astigmatism is a need for a correction in your glasses or contacts just like the need for a correction when you are nearsighted or farsighted. When you have astigmatism the shape of your eye or the lens inside your eye may be slightly irregular. Some people will tell you instead of your eye being shaped like a basketball it is shaped more like a football. It creates two points of focus on the retina or back of your eye. In perfect vison the point of focus falls right on the retina or back of your eye. With astigmatism it is divided and one point may fall short of the back of the eye while the other falls right on the back of the eye or one point may fall beyond the retina or back of the eye and the other fall right on the back of the eye. The corrective lenses in your glasses or contacts will bend the light rays so that they both come together to fall right on the back of the eye or retina. Astigmatism is usually very easy to correct with glasses or contactsand it is often in conjunction with being nearsighted or farsighted.