Astigmatism. Where do they come from? Where do they go?

Well, I can understand having it from birth but don't understand why I was told I had one in my left eye, then, years later, told I didn't have it anymore. I suppose they can be so slight that they aren't always picked up during an eye exam unless they get worse. I do know that my lenses had to be strengthened because my eyesight has gotten worse in the past two years. Maybe that's due in part to aging.

I found out that I have astigmatism last 5 years ago that's why I think it is the cause why my eyes is squinting. It is also runs in our family because my sister also has astigmatism. We need to wear glasses very often to correct our problem but sometimes it is very uncomfortable to wear it.

Hi agv. I have to wear my glasses all the time because my eyesight is very bad. But now I get the lightest-weight glasses I can. Mine have plastic (polycarbonate?) lenses and I have rimless frames. They almost feel like wearing nothing on my nose so they don't hurt or cause pressure.

I never thought of that but I bet that's what is going on. These were different doctors. I've probably had them both all my life but the different optometrists/opthalmologists had different views on them. I still think it's strange about the one in my left eye showing up in my teens, then the next doctor said he didn't see it. I specifically asked him about it and he said that I "outgrew" it. Maybe that's a blanket response to a question like that for some doctors. This last one told me my eyes are healthy, otherwise, so that's really the bottom line. (Haha! Pun not intended but kinda cool since it fits so well. LOL) Although he did see the effects of my high blood pressure in my left eye, he said they were both healthy. Now, I have to see my cardiologist again to maybe adjust the strength of my BP medicine.

Maybe an astigmatism can be corrected with Lasik but age can't. I went to a Lasik center once to see if they could help me. It happened to be the day after my 50th birthday. They told me that they couldn't help me because my eye problem was due to age. Double whammy! I turned 50 and found out my eyes couldn't be corrected by Lasik because of my age. I went home and hid under the covers for awhile.

Dear Marti...this old world..is NOT on an even keel, turning on it's axis..like it is meant to do...and I really (altho I am a great believer in the Farmer's Alamanac) could forsee THIS year!(THAT SHUD READ NOT FORESEE! Gotta share some humour with you...and it is true humour..growing up, we never, EVER planted out...until THE MEN, (Dad & the boys) did a "Trou Test" -- now, for the fun...they would drop their drawers (all) and sit on the ground...and if they were comfortable to sit their..(you gotta picture it) then the soil was warm enuff to plant. Course, we only saw them from the backside. But it was riotous! Think you could get the boys to do a "trou test" for you? OH, and that was at sundown time! I am not going to use any logic this year, I know I will be planting earlier, but I do have a Greenhouse, where I can harden off. Still have beets, leeks, parsnips and carrots in the ground from last year...just gave them a good mulch...as we didn't get much frost this year. Glad there is a glimmer of hope for Spring..get's my energy levels up! Do you plant mostly Heritage? Hope you are well..take care..and HUGZ!

Well, I've always been rather "irregular" so I no doubt have that type. I had my eyes examined to see if Lasik could help me and was told no, I'm old. This was just a day after my 50th birthday. Man! Did I ever feel my age coming out of that place! Guess I'm stuck with my astigmatisms but that's okay, I've grown used to wearing glasses. I don't like wearing them but I'm used to them. We actually had rain yesterday! Real, unfrozen rain!!! Well, sleet, then snow, did mix in with it but, still, it was RAIN! No more snow accumulated and I believe the rain actually melted some of the snow still on the ground. I can actually see a few inches of ground around the trees now! The rest of our land is still totally snow-covered but I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel or, rather, the ground at the end of the frozen tundra. We're finally having temperatures more above freezing than below it. Not much above but enough to get this stuff melted and outta here! Of course, what is not covered by snow now, like our unpaved, private road, is total mud. All the plowing has removed all the gravel from the road so it's quite a muddy drive out to the county road. I'm sure we'll be getting new gravel once this stuff melts but my garden is going to be extremely water-logged for awhile yet. I just hope we don't get much more rain until summer. I'm thinking I should wait a few weeks before starting my seeds indoors and give outside a chance to get dried out some. Maybe I should consult an Almanac?

I did picture that in my mind. What a group you had there! That must've been hilarious to watch. I'll definitely be asking my boys if they'll do that Trou Test for me this year. I'm sure my oldest will decline the, umm, "honor" but my youngest will probably do it. He's a hoot! I do plant Heritage... everything. But, I also plant weird stuff along with them. I'm partly an old-fashioned gal and love the old Heritage veggies. They're so predictable and that makes them much more fun to grow. However, I love the yellow tomatoes, purple carrots, white eggplants and, of course, my red, blue and purple potatoes. I like the tried and true so, if these weird new varieties aren't as nice as the Heritage, I'll have something to fall back on. My husband, so far, has refused to eat my purple carrots, etc., saying they're "unnatural". So, more for me! Even my oldest son, the one born an old man, has tried and even likes all the veggies I grow. I like the Heritage to do my canning with. I trust them more. The weird stuff always gets eaten fresh. Of course, some of the Heritage gets eaten fresh, too. I'm going to try something this year that I hope will pan out. Last year, I tried growing my flower seeds on this side of the road. (Some grew but not many, because of the horrible weather we had.) This year, I've been planning a wildflower garden on the other side of the road. We own as much property on that side as this, but there is one spot in particular that gets lots of sun and is virgin land as far as planting intentionally goes. It slopes down to a stream (actually the runoff from our lake) and I'm hoping I can get my son to build steps (from tree trunks chopped in lengths of about 2-3 feet, then chopped in half so each has a flat side) down to the stream with the poppies, coneflowers, blanket flowers, etc. on each side, all leading to a hand-made table and benches. It looks so relaxing in my head. A nice place to relax when it's really hot outside because of the surrounding tall trees. I'm planning all this but, if we have another winter like this one, I'll seriously start thinking about moving to warmer quarters!

I know what you mean the eye doctor told me your eye is shaped like a softball mine are like a football an no it isn't wieird thanks to diabetes i am also near an far sighted they just gave my bi focals god 41 an wearing bifocals an little things floating around in my eyes wonder why I am nuts

Hi enola. I get occasional floaters but it's not often, thankfully! I would think they would drive a person nuts after awhile! LOL I've had my eyes examined at a place that does that laser surgery and they said that my eyesight can't be corrected that way because it's caused by age. They said that, as we age, our corneas harden and sometimes warp out of shape, usually causing nearsightedness. I have both nearsightedness and farsightedness (weird, I know) and have those Progressive lenses so, no matter what I look at or how near or far it is, I can see it perfectly. Plus, I have plastic lenses and rimless frames so there is no pressure on my nose and I almost feel like I'm not wearing glasses at all. I don't like wearing glasses but I'm used to it so it's okay.

47, 32, 56, HIKE! Dang, there goes my eyeball! Actually, eww. Football shaped, you say? Funny, doesn't look like a football. Maybe that's because the laces are in. From what I'm hearing here, I most likely had these since birth. The different eye doctors I've seen probably have had different methods of deciding whether astigmatisms were present or not. But, I just got this tiny netbook not long ago and things are smaller so there could be some eyestrain going on, although I usually get a muscle tic in my eyelid whenever my eyes are strained and that hasn't happened. I'm thinking that I've probably had these all along and maybe using this netbook has made them more apparent or even worsened them. I don't have a clue but it makes me wonder about doctors in general. One may see something the last one didn't or vice versa. We tend to put total faith in our doctors and take their word for most things but they could very well be wrong. I never got a notification for your response here. I wonder why? I got notifications of all the others, just not yours. Even with all the great upgrades, there still seem to be quite a lot of glitches. Anyway, I'm glad I saw your response. Hope you're doing well!

...as far as anyone can "see"...I'm doing quite fine, thank you. True, doctors CAN be wrong at times. After all, they are only human...at least some of them are anyway. Perhaps the size of your screen resolution, might have triggered this present condition? If lets say, the pixels are set at 1024...then THAT may have had a bearing? Could be? Oh, and those AREN'T laces my dear, that have been winding up in your soup. Nope...those are eye lashes. HIKE! cdrxo

Oh yes Marti he does love them very much lol

Actually, I didn't know about these astigmatisms until my exam was over and I was picking out frames. The doctor was with another patient by then. I asked the gal helping me with the frames about what those extra numbers meant on the prescription and she told me that I had astigmatisms in both eyes. I think this "coming and going" is due to having different doctors examine my eyes. The one I just saw is good. He was very thorough. He paused a bit while looking at the inside of my left eyeball and I asked him why. He asked me if I had high blood pressure and I said yes. He told me he could see that in my left eye. So, my next stop will be with my cardiologist to maybe have my blood pressure meds increased. I don't cherish the idea that I could go blind because of my blood pressure! Hope your packing, etc. is going more smoothly than it was, especially since Gissi is his old, misbehaving self again! He does love those cushions, doesn't he? LOL

they do now but hubby hasnt tried them