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.

Don't freeze your water in plastic bottles!

This is great information from Johns Hopkins.

Johns Hopkins has recently sent this out in its newsletters. This information is being circulated at Walter Reed Army Medical Centeras well.
Dioxin chemicals causes cancer, especially breast cancer. Dioxinsare highly poisonous to the cells of our bodies. Don't freeze your plastic bottles with water in them as this releases dioxins from the plastic.
Recently, Dr. Edward Fujimoto, Wellness Program Manager at Castle Hospital , was on a TV program to explain this health hazard. He talked about dioxins and how bad they are for us.. He said that weshould not be heating our food in the microwave using plastic containers.This especially applies to foods that contain fat. He said that the combination of fat, high heat, and plastics releases dioxin into the food and ultimately into the cells of the body. Instead, he recommends using glass, such as Corning Ware, Pyrex or ceramic containers for heating food. You get the same results, only without the dioxin. So such things as TV dinners, instant ramen and soups, etc., should be removed from the container and heated in something else.Paper isn't bad but you don't know what is in the paper. It's just safer to use tempered glass, Corning Ware, etc.
He reminded us that a while ago some of the fast food restaurants moved away from the foam containers to paper. The dioxin problem is one of the reasons. Also, he pointed out that plastic wrap, such as Saran, is just as dangerous when placed over foods to be cooked in the microwave. As the food is nuked, the high heat causes poisonous toxins to actually melt out of the plastic wrap and drip into the food. Cover food with a paper towel instead.